The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a contempt of court notice to Wikipedia on a contempt petition filed by ANI Media Private Limited alleging that the platform failed to comply with orders to disclose information on subscribers who allegedly made defamatory edits on ANI’s Wikipedia page.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Navin Chawla took a strong objection to submission made by Wikipedia that it took them time to appear before the court as the entity was not based in India.
The Bench observed that it was not a question of Defendant No 1 (Wikipedia) not being an entity in India. The company has made a similar submission in the past also, which was rejected.
The High Court orally told Wikipedia that if it did not like India, it should not work here.
The single-judge Bench remarked that it would direct Wikipedia to close its business transactions in India and also ask the Government to block the online platform in India. The High Court also warned of initiating contempt of court action against Wikipedia.
The High Court also directed an authorised representative of Wikipedia to remain personally present before the Court on the next date of hearing.
ANI had filed a defamation suit against Wikipedia for allegedly carrying a defamatory description of the news agency. On August 20, Wikipedia had appeared before the Court pursuant to the issuance of the summons.
ANI alleged that Wikipedia did not dispute that the three individuals, who were made defendants in the defamation suit, were not administrators on the platform.
Considering the said submission, Wikipedia was directed by the Court to disclose to ANI the subscriber details of the three individuals available with it within two weeks.
The news agency then filed a contempt plea against Wikipedia alleging non-compliance with the order.
ANI sought to restrain the online portal from publishing allegedly defamatory content on the news agency’s page on its portal. It further sought removal of the content, and Rs 2 crore as damages.
As per the media company, its page on Wikipedia alleged that ANI has been ‘criticized’ for having served as a propaganda tool for the incumbent Central government, distributing materials from a vast network of fake news websites, and misreporting events.
The news agency had earlier filed a defamation suit against the online platform and its officials, alleging that Wikipedia published palpably false and defamatory content with a malicious intent to tarnish the news agency’s reputation and to discredit its goodwill.
In its petition, ANI mentioned a part of the content displayed on its Wikipedia page, which said “Under a new management, ANI has been accused of practicing an aggressive model of has over 500 Employees. Asian journalism focused at maximum revenue output, where journalists were easily dispensable with.
“Multiple employees have accused ANI of not having any human resource management system and ill-treating their ex-employees. On 20 July 2023, ANI falsely blamed Muslims for the sexual assault and rape of two Kuki women during the 2023 Manipur violence,” it added.
The news agency alleged that Wikimedia, through its officials, actively participated in removing the edits to reverse the content.
It said the conduct of Defendant No. 1 resulted in a loss of its safe-harbour protection under Section 79(1) of the Act, and made it liable for hosting & publishing defamatory content.
ANI was represented by Advocate Sidhant Kumar.
Advocate Tine Abraham appeared for Wikipedia.