SC sets aside HC takedown order in Wikipedia-ANI case

The Supreme Court has set aside a Delhi High Court order which had directed a takedown of alleged defamatory edits on ANI’s Wikipedia page, Bar and Bench reported.

“The reason is that there is no clarity on the issue on who will decide whether the contents are false, misleading and defamatory,” the court said, according to the report. 

The bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan reportedly granted liberty to ANI to move the single-judge of Delhi High Court again for interim relief in its suit. It reportedly said a fresh application could be considered on merits without being influenced by the latest order. ANI had alleged that Wikipedia was allowing anonymous users to make defamatory statements on its platform. 

The top court was hearing Wikimedia Foundation’s plea against the high court order that was issued on April 2.

Does Wikipedia have control over who writes and edits on its pages? Watch our explainer to understand the case.

If you’re wondering about ANI’s pushback against being called ‘propaganda’, we’ve got the whole story. Click here to read about ANI’s business of news and how it signs ‘PR’ contracts with governments.

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