Wikipedia officials were on Monday summoned by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) over alleged vandalism of Indian cricketer Arshdeep Singh’s page, which linked him to the separatist Khalistani movement, for containing fake information. He dropped a crucial catch during Super 4. Asia Cup cricket match against Pakistan on Sunday. According to a report, a high-level panel is expected to question the officials of the community-maintained Encyclopedia, while a show-cause notice may also be issued.
While MeitY is yet to release a statement officially, an NDTV report good says the summons was issued on Monday as the government was concerned that sharing of fake information on cricketer Arshdeep Singh’s profile could have a negative impact on communal harmony and the safety of his family.
edit history Singh’s Wikipedia page shows that an anonymous, unregistered user edited the page, changing the word “India” to “Khalistan”. As per the report, these changes were said to be undone within a period of 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for IT Rajiv Chandrashekhar took to Twitter to criticize the changes made to the page. “No intermediary operating in India may permit willful attempts to solicit such misinformation (a) n (d). [and] User Harm – Violates our government’s expectations of a secure and reliable internet,” he tweeted.
Arshdeep Singh’s Wikipedia page has been marked as semi-protected By September 11, due to vandalism.
On Sunday, Singh dropped a catch in the 18th over during the Super 4 Asia Cup cricket match against Pakistan, following which he was subjected to attacks by users on social media. Several cricketers, including former team captain Virar Kohli, came out in support of the young bowler and condemned his trolling.
Last month, MeitY announced that it would conduct quarterly compliance audits of social media companies. While platforms in India are currently expected to provide details of compliance with the IT Rules, 2021 every month, MeitY said it has put in place a mechanism to audit firms’ compliance.
As part of auditing social media companies, MeitY will verify that the platforms are reporting details of complaints made by users, while verifying whether the actions were in compliance with IT regulations. The government has already proposed the formation of a Grievances Appeal Panel.
