Kremlin accuses Wikipedia of 'information attacks on Russians'
Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor demanded that Wikipedia remove "unreliable socially significant information" regarding the war in Ukraine, threatening a fine of up to 4 million rubles ($48,000). In its message published on Tuesday, April 5, Roskomnadzor accused the online encyclopedia of "becoming a new line of constant information attacks on Russians", since it "massively hosts" materials with "unreliable information" about the military actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.
The supervisory authority claims that Wikipedia articles "purposefully misinform users providing blatantly false information" and "promote an exclusively anti-Russian interpretation of events."
Roskomnadzor insists on limiting the dissemination of such information in accordance with the requirement of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, the report says.
Earlier, the Russian Wikipedia reported on its social media pages that the notification of the Prosecutor General's Office concerns five articles: "The Battle for Kiev (2022)", "War crimes during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine", "Shelling of a hospital in Mariupol", "Destruction of the Mariupol theater (2022)" and "Massacre in Bucha". The Wikipedia’s administration said that they had not been informed what information should be removed from these articles.
At the end of March, Roskomnadzor already promised to bring Wikipedia to administrative responsibility for not deleting "illegal information", threatening it with a fine of up to 4 million rubles.