Wikipedia has taken down an article titled “Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation”, the entry on the ANI news agency’s defamation lawsuit against the online encyclopedia’s parent foundation. This is the first instance of an English Wikipedia article being taken down by the foundation in the encyclopedia’s history.
The takedown follows an order by the Delhi High Court in which Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela ruled that the Wikipedia page describing criticism of the lawsuit “amounts to interference in Court proceedings” and violated the “sub judice principle”.
A Wikimedia spokesperson declined to comment. Takedown or alteration requests have been complied with only in fewer than half-a-dozen instances in Wikipedia’s history, after requests from Germany, France and Ukraine, as per transparency reports published by the foundation since 2012.
It is unclear whether in these instances individual pages were completely removed or only specific pieces of content were lifted. The Division Bench of the court said the characterisation of a previous ruling in the case as a threat to the “flow of information and knowledge” was prejudicial to the proceedings. This line was edited out of the article in its most recent state.
The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 does not prohibit the coverage of court proceedings. However, it only provides for exemption for criticism of a court order after a case has “been heard and finally decided”.
The Wikipedia page on ANI remains available, and much of the information on the page dedicated to the court case is available as a section in this article. The news agency is suing the foundation for a description that currently says that the agency “has been accused of spreading pro government propaganda, anti-opposition disinformation, engaging in partisan campaigning for the BJP, and using a vast network of fake news websites to push disinformation”.
“I think nothing can be worse for a news agency than to be called a puppet of an intelligence agency, stooge of the government,” Justice Manmohan said on Monday. “If that is true, the credibility goes.”
ANI is seeking the page’ editing, and ₹2 crore in damages.