Center calls out Wikipedia executives for false information on cricketer Arshdeep Singh’s page
Vartha Bharati | 09-05-2022 | 18:12:00 IST
New Delhi, September 5: The Indian government on Monday criticized Wikipedia for publishing false information on cricketer Arshdeep Singh’s website linking him to the Khalistani separatist movement, saying such incitement cannot be allowed.
Singh faced heavy flak on social media from several users after he dropped a crucial catch in a thrilling Asia Cup Super 4 clash between India and Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday.
After the missed capture, information on his Wikipedia page was changed to link him to the Khalistani separatist movement.
Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar took to Twitter to criticize such a move.
“No broker operating in India can allow this kind of disinformation (a)n(d) deliberate attempt to incite (a)n(d) user harm – violates our government’s expectations of a safe and reliable internet ,” he said.
It was also said that the Ministry of Electronics and IT has summoned executives from Wikipedia to explain the fake post, but officials denied any such action.
According to the editing history of the cricketer’s Wikipedia page, an unregistered user replaced the words “India” with “Khalistan” in several places on the profile and his name was changed to “Major Arshdeep Singh Bajwa”. But the changes were reversed within 15 minutes by Wikipedia editors.
His defamatory association with the Khalistani movement is said to have been made by elements in Pakistan.
Major social media firms have come under fire in the past for hate speech, misinformation and fake news circulating on their platforms.
The government had last year announced new IT rules to make digital intermediaries more accountable and responsible for the content placed on their platforms.
The rules required social media companies to remove controversial content more quickly, appoint officers to resolve complaints and assist in investigations.
Significant social media intermediaries, those with more than 50 lakh users should follow additional due diligence, including appointing a Chief Compliance Officer, a Nodal Contact Person and a Resident Grievance Officer and all the three officers shall be resident in India.
The IT ministry, in June, circulated draft rules proposing a panel to hear user grievances against inaction on complaints made, or against content-related decisions taken by grievance officers of social media platforms.
Currently, “there is no appeal mechanism provided by intermediaries, nor is there any credible self-regulatory mechanism,” the ministry said.
Several cricketers and politicians have backed Arshdeep Singh saying that anyone can make a mistake in a high-pressure game.
Pakistan needed 34 runs to win when Ravi Bishnoi came in to score the 18th wicket. Arshdeep Singh dropped a relatively easy catch of Asif Ali on the third ball of the over which led to a massive momentum shift and Pakistan won by five wickets.
Pacer Arshdeep Singh was called upon to complete the final over but was unable to defend seven runs.
No broker in India can allow this kind of misinformation in a deliberate attempt to induce #userharm – violates our government’s expectation of a safe and reliable Internet #wikipedia @GoI_MeitY #Safe and trusted internet pic.twitter.com/Qm6HdppM1k
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) September 5, 2022
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