Information and Broadcasting Ministry mulls treating Wikipedia as publisher

Government questions Wikipedia's status as intermediary, not publisher, amid lawsuit with ANI, raising concerns over bias and accuracy.

Even as Asian News International (ANI) sues the Wikimedia Foundation over the Wikipedia entry on the news agency, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has sent a missive to the online encyclopedia’s parent, asking why it should not be treated as a publisher, and therefore directly liable for legal challenges against its content. The letter has not been released and was announced by government sources. 

The letter marks a significant step in the government’s growing assertiveness over international websites and platforms. The letter pointed to “many complain[t]s of bias and inaccuracies” on Wikipedia and concerns over “a small group having editorial control”. It asked “why Wikipedia shouldn’t be treated as a publisher instead of [an] intermediary,” according to the communique.

A Wikimedia Foundation spokesperson did not confirm receipt of the letter, and had no immediate comment.

The letter comes shortly after the Delhi High Court ordered the Wikimedia Foundation to unmask the identities of the individual people who made edits to ANI’s Wikipedia page. The news agency sued after being described on its Wikipedia page as close to government interests. According to the latest version of the page over which ANI has approached the High Court, the agency has been “accused of amplifying a vast network of fake news websites spreading pro-government and anti-Pakistan propaganda”. 

The Foundation has agreed to provide details of the individuals who added the first versions of these descriptions under sealed cover to the Delhi High Court.

While many social media and content platforms have acceded to the Indian government’s stringent new rules, Wikipedia’s unique position complicates the possible outcomes of the lawsuit and the I&B Ministry’s letter. Unlike other large platforms, the Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit which has never interfered in users’ editing decisions, aside from nudges in ongoing debates. That changed last month when the Foundation “suspended access” to a page on the ANI lawsuit after the Delhi High Court ordered it to do so. 

If the I&B Ministry carries through on the threat in its letter, and the site is classified as a publisher along the lines of media companies, the Foundation would be liable on its users’ behalf in court cases. The Foundation does not have an entity in India.