The Union government has issued a notice to online encyclopedia Wikipedia, asking it to explain why it should be treated as an intermediary rather than a publisher, PTI reported on Thursday, quoting unidentified officials.
The Centre said that there were many complaints of biases and inaccuracies in Wikipedia, and claimed that a small group of people appeared to have editorial control over the platform.
As per the Information Technology Act, intermediaries are companies that receive, store, and transmit information created by third parties, while publishers are online entities that create content. Intermediaries are not liable for third-party content that they host on their platforms, and are thus shielded from criminal action on account of any such content.
Intermediaries, however, have to “exercise due diligence and reasonable care” to ensure that their users do not post any illegal content, according to the Information Technology Rules. If the government holds that an online entity does not meet this condition, it can classify the entity as a publisher, thus removing the shield from criminal action.
Wikipedia is a free online collaborative encyclopedia edited by volunteers. It is hosted by the United States-based non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.
The notice to Wikipedia on Tuesday comes amid a defamation case filed by news agency ANI in the Delhi High Court seeking the removal of an allegedly defamatory description on its Wikipedia page, which says that the news agency has been criticised for serving as a “propaganda tool” for the current Union government.
During the proceedings, the court threatened to order the Union government to block Wikipedia in India if Wikimedia Foundation did not provide the details about those responsible for the description.
On October 28, the foundation told the court that it was ready to share basic subscriber information about its users who edited the page. The data about the users will be shared in a sealed cover, which means it will not be available to the public.
While it is unclear what details will be shared with the High Court in a sealed cover, basic subscriber information typically refers to a user’s name, address, email address, phone number and other identifiers.
Also read: A Delhi High Court case could end up threatening how Wikipedia works in India
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