MeitY may ask wikimedia execs to explain distortion of bowler Arshdeep’s page

The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) is likely to write to Wikimedia Foundation executives in India to seek an explanation on how the Wikipedia page entry of Arshdeep Singh, a fast bowler from the Indian men’s cricket team, was edited to add false information alluding to Khalistan, people aware of the development told ET.

“We have taken strong cognisance (of the edits). It was a clear attempt to disturb peace. We will take action as per the IT Act,” an official said. The IT ministry may summon Wikimedia India executives if it is not satisfied with the reply received from the foundation regarding checks and balances put in place to contain unauthorised editing by volunteers, the people said.

“It is a serious issue. The edits have been traced back to servers in neighbouring countries and can cause serious damage to the internal peace and national safety of India. We will ask them (Wikimedia executives) how such an edit could be allowed to stay on for quite some time,” a senior government official told ET. ET first broke the story on its online platforms at 11.52 am. While Wikipedia is purely run by volunteers, the costs of running the knowledge-sharing platform’s servers as well as other expenses are borne by the Wikimedia Foundation, a US-based not-forprofit headed by Egypt-born American social entrepreneur and lawyer Maryana Iskander.