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| Wikimedia responds to Russia's threat to block Wikipedia |
The Russian censor has threatened to block all Wikipedia sites in the country if the site does not remove information about Russian soldiers' casualties and military violence against civilians.
Wikipedia editors in Russia received a note from Roskomnadzor claiming that articles about the Russian invasion of Ukraine contained false information. In addition to threatening to block the entire site if they do not comply.
According to the statement, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation informed the site operator that the materials in question violate federal law.
The statement said that the list of victims of the Russian military and Ukrainian civilians and children given in the article is incorrect. The operator of the site must delete this information.
In response to the request of the Internet regulator in Russia, the Wikimedia Foundation has issued a statement in support of volunteer contributors to Russian Wikipedia.
Roskomnadzor threatened to block Wikipedia because its Russian page covered Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He claims that the site contains misinformation about war casualties and the impact of economic sanctions, among other things.
On March 1, 2022, the Wikimedia Foundation received a request from the Russian government to remove content related to the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine published by Russian volunteers from Wikipedia, the foundation announced.
"Wikipedia is an excellent source of reliable and factual information about this crisis," she added. We will not back down from our efforts to censor and intimidate members of our movement. We stick to our mission to provide free knowledge to the world.
Roskomnadzor denied reports of a large number of casualties in the army of the Russian Federation. And the civilian population of Ukraine, including the number of children.
He also conflicted with the necessity of withdrawing funds from accounts in the Bank of the Russian Federation due to sanctions from abroad.
Wikimedia Russia said the allegations were largely unverifiable and urged the government not to block access to the articles, which would require blocking access to all existing Wikipedia sites.
During this crisis, Wikimedia supports free access to information. She writes that she actively works with affected communities to identify potential threats to information in Wikimedia projects.
It also supports volunteer editors and administrators who are the first line of defense against falsification of facts and knowledge.
She noted that the site is constantly changing due to the work of several editors. "These people have very different opinions about what is going on and have made sure that the article does not contain any misinformation or misleading language," she wrote.
Russia threatens to ban Wikipedia
Russian authorities have made numerous complaints against Wikipedia pages in the past. The government blocked the site in 2015 due to an article related to cannabis. But the ban did not last long.
However, the current threat is part of a broader campaign online centered around snooping - Russia has banned Facebook and Twitter.
A Wikimedia statement warned that removal requests threaten censorship. Depriving people of access to reliable information in times of crisis can have life-changing consequences.