Wikipedia Fails To Delete 137 Materials Prohibited By Russian Law - Watchdog

Wikipedia has not deleted a total of 137 materials labeled as illegal in Russia, including fake information about the Russian armed forces and materials of extremist organizations, Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor told Sputnik on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2023) Wikipedia has not deleted a total of 137 materials labeled as illegal in Russia, including fake information about the Russian armed forces and materials of extremist organizations, Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"To date, Wikipedia has not removed a total of 137 illegal materials, regarding which Roskomnadzor has sent about 200 notifications, demanding the removal of prohibited information," the watchdog said.

The illegal materials include fake news about Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, articles discrediting the Russian armed forces, information on ways to use narcotic drugs, materials containing the justification of extremist and terrorist activities, as well as articles promoting suicide and other prohibited content, Roskomnadzor added.

Given these facts, the watchdog concluded that "the Wikipedia resource administration has taken a clear anti-Russian stance after the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine and is demonstratively ignoring the requirements of Russian legislation."

Roskomnadzor also pointed out that the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., the owner of Wikipedia, had repeatedly been fined for not deleting information prohibited by Russian law. To date, the Russian court has imposed fines totaling 12.6 million rubles ($154,000) on the company. Three other cases are currently under consideration.