Defamation Suit by Wikipedia and ANI

• Asian News International (ANI) files a defamation suit against Wikimedia Foundation Inc. and three Wikipedia administrators.

• ANI alleges that the defendants published false, misleading, and defamatory content on the ANI page.

• Wikimedia actively participated in removing edits that sought to reverse the false content.

• Wikimedia changed the page’s status to ‘extended confirmed protection’, preventing further changes by ANI-associated editors.

• ANI alleges that this violates the safe-harbour provisions of the Information Technology Act 2000.

• Wikimedia Foundation Inc. provides technical infrastructure and ensures editors don’t face technical hurdles.

• The platform’s reputation is built on democratic architecture, anonymous editing, and a policy of desisting from generating first-hand knowledge.