In what seems like Wikipedia has run into is yet another storm which is entirely its own making, as the government has ordered the company to remove the link showing wrong map of Jammu and Kashmir. If Wikipedia fails to remove the link, the option to block access to the entire platform is not off the table.
After a Twitter user, Chhatrasal Singh flagged how the Wikipedia page on India-Bhutan relationship where the map incorrectly portrayed the boundary of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government directed Wikipedia to remove the link as it is a violation of India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
It is being reported that the Ministry of Electronics and IT under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, issued the order for the same on November 27.
As it stands, Wikipedia is yet to correct the map with ANI reporting that in case Wikipedia fails to adhere to the directions, the Indian Government is well within its rights to take serious legal action against the company including blocking access to the entire platforms as per Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Recently, Twitter portrayed Jammu and Kashmir as a part of the People’s Republic of China which was duly corrected by the micro-blogging platform after the Indian government shot off an angry letter.
Read More: According to Twitter, Jammu and Kashmir is a part of China
In a stern warning, the Secretary of Ministry of Electronics and IT, Ajay Sawhney stated that any attempt by Twitter to disrespect India’s integrity and sovereignty is totally unacceptable and also unlawful. On behalf of the government, Sawhney also asked the social media giant to respect the sensitivities of the Indian citizens. Sawhney also questioned the micro-blogging platform’s neutrality as he stated that such incidents not only bring disrepute to Twitter but also raises questions about its neutrality and fairness as an intermediary.
Read More: ‘DO NOT disrespect our sovereignty,’ Govt sends an angry letter to Twitter for showing J&K in China
Much-like Twitter, Wikipedia too is known for its left wing bias. Earlier this year, it was revealed how Wikipedia protects the twisted leftist narrative globally and in India and for this, it has weaponised its informational hegemony against prominent Indian right-wing portals like TFIPOST, Swarajya, and Opindia.
Read More: TFIPOST, OpIndia and Swarajya- the 3 top RW portals are in Wikipedia’s Blacklist. But Quints and Wires aren’t
When TFIPOST recently accessed Wikipedia’s ‘Blacklist’, which is essentially a list of websites and media portals blocked by the global digital encyclopaedia, it was found that India’s top right-wing media outlets, which include TFIPOST, Swarajya and OpIndia have been ‘blacklisted’ by Wikipedia. This is to say that if an individual wishes to cite any one of these web portals as the source in any Wikipedia article, they would be unable to do so, since these sites have been blocked by Wiki’s perceivably rattled top editors and executives.
This shows how biased Wikipedia is. For Wikipedia, Opindia, Swarajya and TFIPOST are not authentic sources to provide reference for its articles but blatantly left-wing and controversial Indian media portals like the Wire, the Quint, News Laundry and Scroll surely are.
The Indian government must set a stern example if Wikipedia fails to correct the map as an instance of India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity being harmed continuously by the portal, which is simply unacceptable.
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China and Russia have banned biased mass media outlets.
But the better option is to create better alternatives, and write articles at alternatives like :
https://en.dharmapedia.net/wiki/Wikipedia
indiawiki org/IndiaWikiContents.html
wikibharat org/doku.php
And Big Tech monopolies and Google should be told to allow for alternatives in their search results.