Russia continues information crackdown with new Wikimedia fine

By Alexander Marrow

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Wikimedia Foundation, owner of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, was fined by a Russian court on Thursday for failing to delete content considered extremist as Moscow pursues a drive to crack down on independent sources of information.

Wikipedia, which says it offers "the second draft of history", is one of the few surviving fact-checked sources of information in Russian since the crackdown intensified after Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine in February 2022.

The Tagansky district court said it had fined Wikimedia 800,000 roubles ($9,900). Russian news agencies in the courtroom said Wikimedia had been charged with failing to remove materials related to a song by the alternative rock band Psychea, or Psyshit, which has been officially designated "extremist".

Russia has now fined Wikimedia around 9 million roubles ($110,000) in the past year, the agencies said.

Wikimedia said the information that Russian authorities had complained about was well sourced and in line with Wikipedia standards.

The Foundation said no content has been taken down, and that the case should be addressed under two existing active appeals against fines related to content about the conflict in Ukraine.

"These orders are part of an ongoing effort by the Russian government to limit the spread of reliable, well-sourced information in the country," associate general counsel Jacob Rogers said in emailed comments.

"We are against such efforts as pressure tactics, and see them as an attempt to use legal liabilities to try to curb free knowledge."

Russia has for years sought to launch a home-grown online encyclopedia, without a tangible result so far.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday and a Russian analogue was "absolutely necessary".

"It would contain truly verified and accurate information, objective information," he said, "because we know that Wikipedia has many distortions, very many untruths, very many historical, factual and other mistakes."

Russian domestic tech companies, led by entities controlled or associated with the state-owned gas giant Gazprom, have been sensing opportunities in Russia's growing digital isolation as foreign internet firms are blocked or quit Russia.

But while Moscow has restricted access to Twitter and to Meta Platforms' flagships Facebook and Instagram, Wikipedia remains freely available. ($1 = 80.9500 roubles)

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Kevin Liffey)