The Indian government condemned Wikipedia on Monday for publishing inaccurate information linking cricketer Arshdeep Singh to the separatist Khalistani movement. According to the Indian government, such incitement is not acceptable. After dropping a key catch in an exciting Super 4 Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan on Sunday in Dubai, Singh came under venomous criticism from certain users on social media.
His Wikipedia page was updated to include a connection to the separatist Khalistani movement following the missed catch. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for information technology, criticised such a move on Twitter.
This type of deliberate user harm inciting disinformation and intermediaries operating in India are prohibited from doing so since it goes against the expectations of our government for a secure and reliable internet.
Officials denied any such action, despite reports that the Ministry of Electronics and IT had called executives from Wikipedia to explain the erroneous post.
The words “India” and “Khalistan” were substituted at several locations on the cricketer’s Wikipedia article by an unregistered user, and his name was altered to “Major Arshdeep Singh Bajwa.”
However, within 15 minutes, Wikipedia editors undid the adjustments. It was claimed that individuals in Pakistan were responsible for the defamatory association between him and the Khalistani movement.
Large social media companies have faced criticism in the past for the fake news, hate speech, and disinformation that circulated on their platforms.