On 9th September, OpIndia released a dossier on how Wikipedia has become a leftist propaganda tool against India. The 187-page document provided in-depth information about different aspects of the so-called open-source encyclopedia and explained how it is under the control of a few left-leaning editors.
Interestingly, when our readers tried to share the link on their Facebook accounts, the social media platform promptly removed the link and warned users against sharing it. Facebook has effectively banned OpIndia’s dossier on Wikipedia.
X user MB Jhansi informed under OpIndia’s link on X that FB was not allowing to share the link.
We are unable to share it on Facebook. They are removing the post and threatening suspension.
— LB Jhansi (ఝాన్సీ) (@LBJhansi) September 10, 2024
One of our readers wrote on FB, “I posted the link to OpIndia’s investigation of Wikipedia, and immediately I got a notification from Facebook saying my post has been removed because it broke Facebook guidelines! Big Brother is both sick and dangerous…”
In fact, when we tried sharing the link on our Facebook Page, the link got removed and we recieved a warning. Facebook’s warning claimed that we were trying to get likes, follows, shares or video views in a “misleading way” which goes against their community standards.
Their community standards read, “Community Standards: Spam – We don’t allow people to use misleading links or content to trick people to visit, or stay on, a website. Examples of things that we don’t allow Telling people that they must like a Page to access content on another site. Using irrelevant pop-ups on websites to prevent people from leaving easily Disguising a link as something on our platform, such as a poll or video, to get clicks Read in full Spam Your freedom of expression We want you to share freely with others. We only remove things or restrict people to keep the community respectful and safe.”
The reality is, OpIndia’s investigation did not break any of these “community standards”.
What is OpIndia’s dossier about?
The OpIndia’s dossier on Wikipedia has been prepared with the purpose of detailing how Wikipedia is not a free, editorial intervention-free encyclopaedia which relies on the voluntary work of thousands of unpaid, passionate volunteers across the globe, as claimed by the Wikimedia Foundation
This dossier is made with a special focus on India, Indian laws and India-related content for the purpose of formulating recommendations about treating Wikipedia as a publisher, which is directly liable for the content published on its platform.
The dossier delves briefly into various aspects of Wikipedia and its parent company – the Wikimedia Foundation in order to understand the various claims made by the Wikimedia Foundation about Wikipedia being a free-for-all-to-edit encyclopaedia, using reliable sources, maintaining a neutral point of view, surviving on donations etc.
It also delves into the grants that Wikimedia Foundation gets, the entities it gets the grants from and the entities and NGOs it gives grants to. Further, it aims to understand how the Wikimedia Foundation, without maintaining its presence in India, is functioning in India and funding various entities for its business goals.
