Wikipedia in Big Trouble in India, Government Issues Notice Over Bias, Editorial Control Concerns

Wikipedia, popular worldwide as an online encyclopedia, has been issued a notice by the Central Government regarding ‘biased and incorrect’ content. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has asked Wikipedia why it should be considered an intermediary and not a publisher.

A case was filed in the Delhi High Court in which Wikipedia has been accused of favoring users who had added defamatory edits to the page of Asian News International (ANI). a media Report According to, in the notice given by the Ministry, concern has been expressed regarding cases of bias and misinformation on Wikipedia’s website. In this notice, the editorial control of this website has also been questioned by some persons. The ministry has also asked Wikipedia why it should not be considered a publisher instead of an intermediary.

Wikipedia says it is not a publisher because it operates on a volunteer system in which users create and edit pages on a variety of topics. Recently, Delhi High Court had termed this open editing system as dangerous. After this this notice has been issued by the ministry. The page on Wikipedia about news agency ANI was described as a ‘propaganda tool’ of the government. A case was filed in the court regarding this. The court had said that due to lack of controlled editing system on this website, harmful information can be added to the pages of public figures and entities.

Despite the court order, Wikipedia had reportedly refused to reveal the identity of the users who had edited the page. In the last few weeks, the government had also adopted a strict attitude towards false threats of placing bombs in planes. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had issued an advisory calling the responsibility of intermediaries including social media companies as important to curb false bomb threats being received by various airlines. In this advisory, it was said that social media intermediaries should follow the IT Act, IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules and the Indian Code of Justice (BNS), 2023. Social media platforms need to immediately remove illegal content to maintain security and public order. Malicious acts such as false bomb threats to airlines are a threat to security and public order.