New Delhi: The government sent a notice to Wikipedia highlighting several complaints of bias and inaccurate information in entries in the popular and free online encyclopedia. In its complaint, the Centre asked why Wikipedia shouldn’t be treated as a publisher instead of an intermediary while taking action against it. The notice, served by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, pointed out that a select group holds editorial control of the website.
It comes amid a legal dispute in the Delhi High Court, in which the news agency Asian News International (ANI) has urged that information regarding users who edited an entry that dubbed the firm as “the propaganda tool” of the Indian government.
On Friday, the court grilled Wikipedia representatives over its claim of being a “free encyclopaedia”. The court observed that the website can not decline to provide the information sought as it claims to be an “intermediary” and not a “publisher” of information.
