Delhi High Court orders Wikipedia to take down page on defamation suit by ANI
The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the platform, has been directed to comply with the order within 36 hours.
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The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered Wikipedia to take down a webpage about the ongoing proceedings of a defamation suit filed by news agency Asian News International against the platform, Live Law reported.
A division bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that the comments made against the court’s single-judge bench on the page were prima facie contemptuous.
The court directed the Wikimedia Foundation, the United States-based non-profit that owns Wikipedia, to comply with the order within 36 hours, according to The Hindu.
“If someone writes something malicious about this bench, about this discussion, what will you do?" the court asked the platform, according to Bar and Bench.
Wikipedia is a free online collaborative encyclopaedia edited by volunteers.
On Monday, the bench criticised the platform for allowing a page titled “Asian News International vs Wikimedia Foundation” to be published. The court said that Wikipedia would have to take the page down, noting that the “single judge cannot be put in fear or be threatened”.
“Look at the page,” the bench had said. “You are disclosing something about a sub-judice matter.”
During the hearing on Wednesday, the counsel representing ANI told the court that after the last hearing, the division bench’s observations had been “opened up for discussion on the page”, reported Live Law.
“The said description of the impugned order and of the single...
