Crime Today News
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed Wikipedia to take down the alleged defamatory statements made on its page about news agency Asian News International (ANI).
The single-judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad passed the interim order on an application moved by the ANI, which had earlier filed a suit accusing Wikimedia Foundation, the parent company of Wikipedia, of allowing defamatory edits on its page, including references that the news agency acted as a ‘propaganda’ tool for the Union government.
The High Court allowed certain prayers in its order and said the order copy would be uploaded on the Court’s website by this evening.
In December 2024, the single-judge Bench had reserved its verdict on the interim application. It had observed that it would go through the news articles that formed the basis of the alleged defamatory edits against ANI on its Wikipedia page.
Justice Prasad, however, wondered whether it could go into such details at the interim stage.
While the sole discretion on what a source meant would lay solely on the editor, if the understanding was so defamatory that it relied on something that actually had a different meaning, then the person could be restrained, the High Court pointed out.
Even if it could be understood in a particular way, then whether the court would go deeper into that aspect to come to a conclusion as to whether in no circumstances could it be construed as something else at all, needed introspection, it added.
In July 2024, the High Court had issued summons to Wikipedia, directing it to disclose information about three people who made the edits on ANI’s Wikipedia page.
After the news agency complained that Wikipedia was yet to comply with the High Court orders, the single-judge Bench took strong objection to Wikipedia’s conduct and issued contempt of court notice against the web-based encyclopedia.
The High Court further ordered an authorised representative of Wikipedia to be personally present in Court on October 25, when the contempt case was listed next.
Wikipedia challenged this order before a Division Bench. Both ANI and Wikipedia reached an agreement before the Division Bench. Wikipedia then served notices on three users accused of defamation by ANI.
When the matter came up before the Division Bench, it was noted that Wikipedia was hosting a page ‘Asian News International vs Wikimedia Foundation’, giving details about the case.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan (who has since been elevated to the Supreme Court) and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela reprimanded Wikipedia over the same and ordered it to take down the page.
Though the page has since been taken down, Wikipedia challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which issued notice to ANI on March 17 and listed the matter for further consideration on April 4.
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