ANI Media Private Limited has filed a lawsuit against Wikipedia, alleging that the platform has published defamatory content about the news agency. The case was brought before Justice Navin Chawla of the Delhi High Court, who has issued a notice on ANI's plea for interim relief and scheduled the next hearing for August 20. ANI's petition seeks to restrain Wikipedia from publishing the allegedly defamatory content on its page and demands the removal of such content. Additionally, ANI is seeking Rs 2 crores in damages from Wikipedia.

The Wikipedia page in question claims that ANI "has been criticised for serving as a propaganda tool for the incumbent central government, distributing materials from a vast network of fake news websites, and misreporting events.” Representing ANI, Advocate Sidhanth Kumar argued that the content is defamatory. He highlighted that Wikipedia, despite being an intermediary, functions as a public utility and should not act like a private entity. Kumar also noted that Wikipedia has restricted ANI from editing its page, allowing only its editors to make changes.

In response, Justice Chawla recognised Wikipedia's right to hold opinions but indicated that the platform would need to justify its actions in court. “At the end of the day, they are entitled to have opinions…They'll come and explain. It's a pure case of defamation,” he remarked.

The lawsuit, filed against the Wikimedia Foundation and its officials, accuses them of publishing false and defamatory content with the intent to damage ANI's reputation. ANI's grievances include accusations of aggressive journalism practices, poor human resource management, and falsely blaming Muslims for the sexual assault and rape of two Kuki women during the 2023 Manipur violence.

ANI further alleges that Wikimedia officials actively participated in removing edits that attempted to reverse the contentious content. This conduct, ANI claims, has led to Wikimedia losing its safe-harbour protection under section 79(1) of the Information Technology Act, making it liable for hosting and publishing defamatory content.

Image source: ANI