The Union government has asked Wikipedia to remove a map showing Aksai Chin as part of China, issuing a strong letter to the US-based nonprofit, according to officials familiar with the matter.
Wikipedia is one of the most popular repositories of information online and works on a volunteer-based model to compile the information, different from social media platforms that have recently been taken down for similar reasons.
The controversial Wikipedia page, which links the wrong map, deals with the relations between Bhutan and India and talks about the links between the two countries.
The secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ajay Sawhney, issued the order to Wikipedia on November 27. A senior government official said he had invoked section 69A of the Information Technology Act which empowers the government to order intermediaries to block public access to any information. .
“The secretary also adds that it violates the territorial integrity of the country, and it is within the power of the ministry under section 69A to order that it be withdrawn,” said one of the officials, who asked not to be identified.
“The secretary has become convinced that the map has been rendered incorrectly,” said this person. In the order, this person added, the secretary affirms that the content published on the website is made with the intention of “defaming” the country and has the “potential to disturb the sovereignty and harmony of the nation.”
HT wrote to the Wikimedia Foundation in his press contact email, but did not receive a response as of press time.
This, however, is not the first time the government has taken on the misrepresentation of the map of India this year. In September this year, the government sent a notice to Twitter about a similar map problem: Leh’s geo-tag showed it as part of China. The government had asked Twitter to explain why action should not be taken against the microblogging website. Since then, Twitter solved the problem.
The use of an incorrect map on Wikipedia was reported to the ministry when a Twitter user tagged the Union Ministry of the Interior and asked them to crack down on the website. The controversial Wikipedia page is titled Bhutan-India Relations and talks about the bilateral relations between the two countries. He talks about military cooperation between the two countries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bhutan in 2014.
Although the ministry has not specified a time frame within which to remove the map, it has been monitoring the website to see when action would be taken. As of Wednesday night, HT was able to access the wrong map.
If Wikipedia does not respond in a timely manner, officials said, then the ministry has two legal options available. You can bring an action under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which may result in the imprisonment of the parties concerned, or invoke section 69A to block access to the website in India.
The latter has been invoked to ban more than 250 mobile apps, mostly with links to China, including the popular short video platform TikTok and the multiplayer game PUBG since the clash between the two countries on the Current Line of Control in June. this year.
.
