The Centre is learnt to have written to Wikipedia raising concerns about several complaints that it has received regarding inaccurate and biased content.

This comes at a time when the community-driven platform, which is hosted by Wikimedia Foundation, a not-for profit organisation, has been under intense scrutiny in India and embroiled in a legal dispute.

Sources said the Information and Broadcasting ministry has sent a notice to Wikipedia regarding complaints that it has received about alleged inaccuracies and bias of information on the site.

It also raised concerns about editorial control of Wikipedia pages and that there is a view that only a small group is said to be involved in managing the content on the platform.

The ministry has also raised questions on why Wikipedia should not be treated as a publisher instead of an intermediary.

Lawsuit filed

Wikipedia, which is a user-created online encyclopedia, is embroiled in a lawsuit filed by a leading news agency in India over alleged inaccurate and defamatory content. The Delhi High Court, while hearing the case on November 1, questioned Wikipedia’s assertion about being a “free encyclopedia” while claiming not to endorse what was written in it. The court also said that as an “intermediary” it should provide the necessary information when sought and that its disclaimer that its content is based on secondary sources cannot absolve it from accountability of what users have written.

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