User:Bluerasberry/ANI FAQ

FAQ

What happened with Asian News International and Wikipedia?

A news agency called Asian News International did not like the Wikipedia article about itself, so it sued Wikipedia both for defamation and also to punish the editors who wrote it. Then Wikipedia editors made an article about that defamation/editor identity lawsuit, and then the court ordered Wikipedia to censor and delete the Wikipedia article about the lawsuit.

Who all is involved in this?

Wikipedia editors are the volunteer community of encyclopedia writers who develop Wikipedia using good editorial practices like fact-checking and quality control. Hundreds of them have edited Wikipedia content related to Asian News International and this entire situation.
News agencies, including BBC, The Caravan, and The Diplomat authored and published the information which Wikipedia editors added to the news article "Asian News International", and which that organization complains is defamation.
Asian News International is the organization which is suing the Wikimedia Foundation, and which is seeking the identity of three particular Wikipedia editors among the hundreds who have edited the Wikipedia article titled, "Asian News International"
The Wikimedia Foundation is the legal organization which hosts the Wikimedia platform, which includes Wikipedia. This organization does not have editorial staff, and cannot tell the Wikipedia editors what to do. Wikipedia editors have some governance ability to tell the Wikimedia Foundation what to do.
The three particular Wikipedia editors seem to be random Internet people. The Wikipedia community wants them to be safe, and not put into a global spotlight or multinational diplomatic conflict, because what happens to them could happen to any Wikipedia editor.
The Delhi High Court is a court in India which is hearing the defamation case, demanded the identity of three Wikipedia editors, and which ordered the Wikimedia Foundation to delete the Wikipedia article titled, "Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation".
The Signpost is the Wikipedia community newspaper producing journalism for Wikipedia editors, by Wikipedia editors, and in advocacy of Wikipedia editors. It is editorially independent of the Wikimedia Foundation. The Signpost reports stories like this one.
While Wikipedia is an online global platform, Wikimedia editors in India are particular stakeholders of this whole situation. Although most editors experience Wikipedia online, throughout the world, there are Wikimedia community organizations which provide local training, support, and partnerships to encourage Wikipedia content development. Several such organizations exist in India. They get funding and support from the Wikimedia Foundation.

Who is seeking Wikipedia content change, such as blanking or deletion?

Two entities are seeking Wikipedia content change: Asian News International, and the Delhi High Court.

Asian News International initiated the initial lawsuit against the Wikimedia Foundation. They claim that the Wikipedia article about their organization, Asian News International, contains defamation against them. They want that content removed.

The Delhi High Court is overseeing that defamation lawsuit, and also, it ordered the Wikimedia Foundation to delete the Wikipedia article about the lawsuit. That Wikipedia article is titled, Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation.

Why do these organizations want Wikipedia content deleted?

Asian News International is complaining of defamation. The Delhi High Court seems to want Wikipedia to enforce privacy and discretion of the ongoing court case, but does not seem to react to journalist organizations which publish the information which is the source of Wikipedia's content. From a Wikipedia editor's perspective, the court's actions seem confused with regard to the nature of the Internet.

Who is seeking Wikipedia editor information from the Wikimedia Foundation and why?

Asian News International is seeking the identities of three of the editors of the Wikipedia article, "Asian News International". Perhaps they want to bring those editors to justice against the accusation of defamation. The Delhi High Court ordered the disclosure of those editors.

What kind of editor information is available through Wikipedia?

As an Internet platform, the Wikimedia Foundation necessarily gathers some user information. However, whereas typical major commercial Internet platforms gather as much user information as possible, the Wikimedia platform seeks to only gather information in advocacy of user rights. The Wikimedia Foundation describes the specifics at wmf:Wikimedia Foundation Privacy Policy and Requests for user data, but all values and ethics in Wikipedia come from the volunteer community of users, and not the Wikimedia Foundation itself.

What danger is there to editors for editing particular Wikipedia pages?

Editing Wikipedia is not supposed to be dangerous but see for example List of people imprisoned for editing Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Foundation has deleted the Wikipedia article for the court case. Right now probably is not the time to re-create that deleted article, but other than that, Wikipedia editors wish to encourage everyone to edit Wikipedia articles in useful ways. Perhaps anyone who feels intimidated by Asian News International should avoid editing about that organization.

How does contempt of court differ in India from other countries with English law tradition?

The Signpost invites anyone with legal insight to submit articles for publication the the next issue.

Does the Wikimedia Foundation currently have an office in India?

No.

Might the court or the country of India completely block all of Wikipedia?

Courts in India have said that they might block all of Wikipedia for the entire country if Wikipedia does not comply with certain requests. The court discussed blocking Wikipedia for this defamation case. Previously in 2020, another court discussed blocking Wikipedia related to maps in Wikipedia differing from India's official maps on the matter of the India–Pakistan border. Before that, there was a Wikipedia dispute related to the Information Technology Rules, 2021.

How much money does the Wikimedia Foundation gather from donations in India?

The Wikimedia Foundation announced the start of its fundraising campaign in India in 2020. Community outreach for the latest campaign is at meta:Fundraising/WMF India fundraising campaign.

How much money does the Wikimedia Foundation send to the editor community in India?

The 2023-24 report says that the Wikimedia Foundation sent US$398,000 in that year, which is about 3 crore rupees.

Original question list

What is the Delhi High Court
- What is its jurisdiction
- Can it be appealed
- How do its judges gain office there
Who is seeking Wikipedia content change (blanking/deletion) and to what end
- Is the court an independent actor themselves, specificaly wrt contemptuous language about the court
  - If this applies, what kind of language is likely to trigger blanking/deletion demands
- Exactly what pages (or suite of pages?) are subject to blanking/deletion
- Also, in what language editions
- What is the potential and likely duration of blanking/deletion
Who is seeking Wikipedia editor information from WMF and to what end
- What kind of editor information does WMF hold, and for how long
- Editing what page or pages would put an editor in the class of editors whose information is demanded
How does contempt of court differ in India from other countries with English law tradition
- What would lead one to think a court order may extend to a non party to the WMF/ANI case, especially if the non party is not an India resident or corporation
What is at stake for non compliance with this court
- Does WMF have offices there
- Does WMF derive significant revenue from Indian sources
- Is a full WP ban likely or even possible, in case of non compliance