Block of Wikipedia in Russia
{{Short description|Censorship of Wikipedia articles in Russia since 2015}}
File:Ruwiki-banner-2015-08-24.png
The free online encyclopedia Wikipedia was briefly blocked in Russia in August 2015. Some articles from Wikipedia were included in various censorship lists disseminated by the government. Further threats to block were made following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
2015 blocking
On July 28, 2012, President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed Federal Law No. 139-FZ "On Amending the Federal Law on the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to their Health and Development and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation". This law introduced a number of provisions involving the blocking of Internet sites on the blacklist system and prohibited Internet resources. A number of experts{{who|date=March 2022}} expressed concerns that this law could be used to enable internet censorship.
On November 1, 2012, the provisions concerning a unified register of domain names and URLs containing prohibited information came into force.{{cite web | title=Изменения в Федеральный закон "О защите детей от информации, причиняющей вред их здоровью и развитию" и отдельные законодательные акты РФ" | website=Российская газета | date=July 30, 2012 | url=https://rg.ru/2012/07/30/zakon-dok.html | language=ru | access-date=May 20, 2018}} A Unified Register of Prohibited Sites was created.
Within three years of the adoption of the law, more than 25 Russian Wikipedia articles, mainly about drugs and suicide, entered the Unified Register of Prohibited Sites.{{cite web | title=Случаи попадания в "черный список" известных сайтов | website=РИА Новости | date=May 24, 2013 | url=https://ria.ru/spravka/20130524/939334412.html | language=ru | access-date=May 20, 2018}}{{cite web | title=Сайт российской "Википедии" могут заблокировать | website=РИА Новости | date=April 5, 2013 | url=https://ria.ru/society/20130405/931181512.html | language=ru | access-date=May 20, 2018}}{{cite web | title=Госнаркоконтроль заподозрил Википедию в пропаганде дизайнерских наркотиков | website=Roskomsvoboda | url=https://roskomsvoboda.org/9756/ | language=ru | access-date=May 20, 2018}} Most of these articles, after some time, were removed from the register. However, on August 24, 2015, there was a short blocking of Wikipedia in Russia.{{cite web | title=Russia banned Wikipedia because it couldn't censor pages | website=The Verge | date=August 27, 2015 | url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/27/9210475/russia-wikipedia-ban-censorship | access-date=March 13, 2022}}
2022 threat to block
File:Ruwiki block banner (March 2022).png
On March 1, 2022, Roskomnadzor, the Russian agency for monitoring and censoring mass media, wrote to the Wikimedia Foundation asking for the removal of the article "{{lang|ru|Вторжение России на Украину (2022)|italic=no}}" ('Russian invasion of Ukraine') on the United States-hosted Russian Wikipedia. The agency threatened to block access to the site, claiming that the article contained "illegally distributed information" including "reports about numerous casualties among service personnel of the Russian Federation and also the civilian population of Ukraine, including children".{{cite web |last1=LaPorte |first1=Stephen |title=[Wikimedia-l] Re: Sanctions against the Russian Federation; support for Ukrainian Wikimedians |url=https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/GX3HFJFJ3G3N5DNQZEXW5CH5K3ZLFC7S/ |date=2 March 2022 |access-date=2 March 2022}}{{Cite news |date=2022-03-01 |title=Moscow threatens to block Russian-language Wikipedia over invasion article |work=National Post |url=https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/crime-pmn/moscow-threatens-to-block-russian-language-wikipedia-over-invasion-article |url-status=live |access-date=2022-03-02 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220301/https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/crime-pmn/moscow-threatens-to-block-russian-language-wikipedia-over-invasion-article |archive-date=2022-03-01}}
On March 11, 2022, a Russian Wikipedia editor based in Minsk, Belarus, Mark Bernstein, was detained by the Belarusian security service GUBOPiK after he was accused online of violating the 2022 Russian fake news law for his edits on articles covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite web |author= |url=https://news.zerkalo.io/life/11113.html |title=В Беларуси задержали Марка Бернштейна — активиста и популяризатора интернет-энциклопедии Wikipedia.org |lang=ru |website=Zerkalo.io |date=2022-03-11 |access-date=2022-03-11}}{{cite web |author= |url=https://reform.by/302401-wiki-aktivist-mark-bernshtejn-zaderzhan-za-antirossijskie-materialy |title=Wiki-активист Марк Бернштейн задержан за «антироссийские материалы» |lang=ru |website=reform.by |date=2022-03-11 |access-date=2022-03-11}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/now/mark-bernstein-russian-wikipedia-pages-detained-in-belarus-104102452.html|title = Prominent editor of Russian Wikipedia pages detained in Belarus| date=12 March 2022 }}
On March 16, 2022, the Russian Agency of Legal and Judicial Information (a news agency founded by the RIA Novosti, the Constitutional Court of Russia, the Supreme Court of Russia, and the High Court of Arbitration of Russia in 2009) published an interview of Alexander Malkevich, the deputy chairman of the commission on the development of information society, media and mass communications of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation. In this interview, Malkevich said that Wikipedia (both Russian and others) was becoming a "bridgehead for informational war against Russia". He also stated that Russian law-enforcement agencies had identified thirteen persons who were carrying out "politically engaged editing" Wikipedia's articles, and about 30,000 bloggers "participating in informational war against Russia".{{cite web|title="Википедия" превращается в плацдарм для информационной войны против России — эксперт|language=ru|date=16 March 2022|publisher=Russian Agency of Legal and Judicial Information|url=http://rapsinews.ru/human_rights_protection_news/20220316/307797817.html}}
According to Novaya Gazeta, pro-Kremlin structures related to Yevgeny Prigozhin are actively involved in doxing "coordinators of an informational attack on Russia", including Wikipedia editors. Novaya Gazeta also reports that Special Communications Service of Russia (a division of the Federal Protective Service) employees are trying to disseminate pro-Kremlin propaganda by editing Wikipedia articles.{{cite news|last=Kozlova|first=Darya|title=Правочный режим. ФСО редактирует статьи в «Википедии» об Украине, википедистов преследуют и угрожают блокировкой проекта — все из-за «спецоперации»|language=ru|trans-title=Editing regime. Federal Protective Service edits articles on Wikipedia about Ukraine, Wikipedians are being persecuted and threatened with a block of their project – all because of a "special operation"|date=17 March 2022|magazine=Novaya Gazeta|url=https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2022/03/17/pravochnyi-rezhim|access-date=20 March 2022|archive-date=18 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318204125/https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2022/03/17/pravochnyi-rezhim|url-status=live}}
On May 18, 2022, Roskomnadzor demanded to remove articles about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the term "Rashism" from the English Wikipedia.{{Cite web |title=Роскомнадзор потребовал удалить из англоязычной "Википедии" статьи о вторжении в Украину и "рашизме" |url=https://gordonua.com/news/worldnews/roskomnadzor-potreboval-udalit-iz-angloyazychnoy-vikipedii-stati-o-vtorzhenie-v-ukrainu-i-rashizme-1609449.html |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=gordonua.com|date=18 May 2022 }}
On March 31, 2022, Russian media censorship agency Roskomnadzor threatened to fine Wikimedia up to 4 million rubles (about {{USD|49,000}}) if it did not delete information about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine that is "misinforming" Russians.{{cite news|title=Russia Demands Wikipedia Take Down Information About Ukraine War|author=Derek Saul|date=31 March 2022|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/03/31/russia-demands-wikipedia-take-down-information-about-ukraine-war/|access-date=5 April 2022}}
In April–May 2022, the Russian authorities put several Wikipedia articles on their list of forbidden sites. The list included the articles on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and Rashism,{{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://zona.media/news/2022/07/20/wikipedia|title=Роскомнадзор обязал поисковики маркировать «Википедию» как нарушителя российских законов из‑за неудаления статей о войне в Украине|website=Mediazona|access-date=2022-07-20|archive-date=|archive-url=}} several articles on Russian Wikipedia devoted to military action and war crimes during the Russo-Ukrainian War,{{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://zona.media/news/2022/04/04/viki|title=Роскомнадзор потребовал от «Википедии» удалить пять статей про военные преступления в Украине|website=Mediazona|access-date=2022-04-04|archive-date=|archive-url=}} and two sections of the Russian article about Vladimir Putin.{{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://zona.media/news/2022/04/13/wiki|title=РКН потребовал от «Википедии» удалить из статьи про Путина разделы об Украине|website=Mediazona|access-date=2022-04-13|archive-date=|archive-url=}}
On July 20, due to the refusal of Wikipedia to remove the articles about the Russo-Ukrainian war, Roskomnadzor ordered search engines to mark Wikipedia as a violator of Russian laws.{{Cite news|lang=en|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-russia-wikimedia/russia-to-punish-wikimedia-foundation-over-ukraine-conflict-fakes-idUSKBN2OV0LB|title=Russia to punish Wikimedia Foundation over Ukraine conflict 'fakes'|website=Reuters|date=20 July 2022 |access-date=2022-07-20|archive-date=|archive-url=}}{{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://rkn.gov.ru/news/rsoc/news74404.htm|title=Роскомнадзор принял меры в отношении Wikimedia Foundation|website=Роскомнадзор|access-date=2022-07-20|archive-date=|archive-url=}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- "[https://ru-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/%D0%92%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%A3%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%83_(2022)?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022)]{{Snd}}Russian Wikipedia article (Google Translate)
{{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine}}
{{Censorship and websites}}
Category:Internet censorship in Russia
Category:August 2015 in Russia
Category:Russian responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine