The Centre in a written notice to Wikipedia cited numerous complaints of bias and inaccuracies in information provided by it, and asked why it should not be treated as a publisher instead of an intermediary, sources said on Tuesday (November 5, 2024).

The communication from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said there is a view that a small group exercises editorial control on its pages.

Also read | ANI vs Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia’s presence in India

Wikipedia advertises itself as a free online encyclopedia where volunteers can create or edit pages on personalities, issues or various subjects.

The popular online source of information is embroiled in legal cases in India over alleged inaccurate and defamatory content provided by it.

The website most recently found itself in hot water with the news agency ANI, which took Wikipedia parent Wikimedia Foundation to the Delhi High Court for defamation, due to a description of the agency on its Wikipedia page, calling it a “propaganda tool for the incumbent government”.

During the proceedings, the Court had cautioned the Foundation and threatened to order the government to block Wikipedia in India if they did not provide details on who was/were responsible for this description.

Wikipedia globally abstains from the kind of article-level control over its content that such regulations demand of online platforms, deferring instead to its vast network of volunteer editors. Having content run by volunteers opens the encyclopaedia up to such legal claims, while also risking vandalism: in 2022, for instance, then Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar called out the platform for derogatory remarks added to the cricketer Arshdeep Singh’s page.