MeitY may summon Wikipedia execs over false entries to Arshdeep's page

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) may summon top executives of Wikipedia over suspicions that a Pakistan-based user changed cricketer Arshdeep Singh’s Wikipedia page to falsely claim his association with the separatist Khalistani movement and harm the country’s public order.

An unregistered user altered Singh's Wikipedia page entry on Sunday after India's loss to Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup. The user replaced the word India with Khalistan in several places on the cricketer’s Wikipedia page. The change, which was subsequently restored, read that the left-arm pacer had been selected to play for the ‘Khalistani' national cricket team.

The pacer has been facing acerbic attacks on social media based on the Wikipedia entry since he dropped a catch of Pakistani batter Asif Ali at a crucial juncture during the match on Sunday.

An official from the ministry said: “The government is taking this issue very seriously because this kind of misinformation may harm the country's internal peace and public order. We suspect the changes were made from a Pakistan-based server. Wikipedia executives will be questioned about the fact-checking mechanisms used by the platform.”

Another MeitY official said: “It is true that the page was vandalised but we are still evaluating if the open-source encyclopedia can be summoned. The changes were undone after a short period. The page was also made semi-protected.” Semi-protected is a category of pages that cannot be edited by unregistered users.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and IT on Twitter shared details of the IP address that made changes to the Wikipedia page. Details shared by the minister showed the user was based out of Murree city in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Chandrasekhar added: “No intermediary operating in India can permit this type of misinformation and deliberate efforts to incitement and user harm. It violates our government’s expectation of a safe and trusted internet.”

Spokesperson of Wikimedia Foundation said, "The Wikimedia Foundation, the US-based non-profit that operates Wikipedia has been made aware by the Indian Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology of the vandalism that took place on the Wikipedia page of Indian cricketer, Arshdeep Singh." 

The spokesperson added, "Vandalism does occur on Wikipedia from time to time, as can occur in any open, online platform. It is a violation of the trust and good faith of our editors and readers, and runs contrary to the values on which Wikipedia is based. The majority of vandalism on Wikipedia is reverted by bots or editors within minutes, as was done in this recent case. "

Wikipedia does not have an organisational structure in India. The Wikipedia foundation derecognised the ‘Wikimedia India' chapter in September 2019. In most countries, the digital encyclopedia works on the input of its volunteers. E-mails sent to the international foundation remained unanswered until the time of going to the press.

Wikipedia’s guidelines say that Wikipedia entries cannot be cited as reliable in other Wikipedia entries. Studies suggest Wiki entries are around 80-85 per cent accurate, while Britannica’s accuracy is reckoned above 95 per cent.

A MeitY official said: “We are currently evaluating if Wikipedia qualifies as an intermediary under the IT Act, 2000.” Section 79(1) of the IT Act provides for exemption from liability of an intermediary for any third-party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted by him.