Wikipedia fined for spreading `false information`

Wikipedia has been accused of spreading 'false information' about the Russian military in the Ukraine war. The Russian court fined Wikipedia 2 million rubles (about 26 lakhs in Bangladeshi taka) for not deleting that information. The fine was imposed on Thursday.

However, the non-profit organization is not currently being banned in Russia, the Russian administration said.

For the second time, the company faced the wrath of the Russian court. The incident started just six days ago. Ukraine's Zaporizhia region centers on Russia's occupation. A report on the occupation of Zaporizhia was published on Wikipedia.

The Russian military requested that the report be retracted, accusing it of false information. However, Wikipedia did not heed this request of the military. A Russian court then fined the company.

Earlier, in November 2022, Wikipedia was fined 400,000 rubles by Russia's Tagansky District Court for allegedly providing false information about the war in Ukraine. Wikipedia mentions Russian attack destroying a theater hall in Mariupol, Ukraine.

After the military operation in Ukraine last year, the Russian government issued new guidelines for the country's media. The Putin administration has warned that military operations cannot be called 'war'. He said that instead of war, 'Special Operations' should be written.

At the same time, a ban was issued on writing about genocide or war crimes. It was also warned that no news of the army should be made public. Since Moscow has no control over Wikipedia, many military news are published in Russian.

As a result, the Kremlin fears that all the information is reaching the Russian people. Russian Information and Technology Minister Maksut Shadayev has assured that Wikipedia will not be blocked even though it has been accused of distorting information. Despite fines, Wikipedia refuses to bow to Russia.

They have indicated that they will continue to work in the interests of Russians living in the world. Allegedly, after the military operation in Ukraine, there is repression on the Russian media. As a result, Russians are not getting much real news. Hence, for them Wikipedia has become the only medium of information exchange.

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