Delhi High Court
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
Commenting on Friday, the High Court has described the Wikipedia model as dangerous. That said, how Wikipedia works as a platform is that anyone can edit pages.
Justice Subramaniam Prasad made the remarks about Wikipedia's architecture while hearing Asian News International's (ANI) defamation suit against the online encyclopedia.
The court asked whether anyone can edit any page on Wikipedia? What kind of page is it if it's open to anyone for editing? Suppose it is my name then anyone can abuse me or give wrong information about me or add statements on my page.
However, Wikipedia's lawyer Jayant Mehta said that users have to follow the law when creating pages or updating information. Wikipedia stated that users are required to follow its policies. ANI has sued Wikipedia for defamation.
According to the news agency, Wikipedia allowed defamatory edits on its page which previously referred to ANI as a propaganda tool for the current government. The page in question currently refers to ANI as the mouthpiece of the Government of India.
Earlier, the High Court had issued summons to Wikipedia and ordered it to disclose information about three people who made edits to ANI's Wikipedia page. The court adjourned the case till October 28, as the court observed that the reply filed by Wikipedia was not on record before it.
