IT ministry sends notice to Wikipedia after cricketer Arshdeep Singh's page vandalised

Wikipedia (Image: Reuters)

Wikipedia has been sent a notice by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) after cricketer Arshdeep Singh's Wikipedia page was vandalised, a senior government official told Moneycontrol.

Arshdeep Singh, who missed a catch during the India-Pakistan cricket match on September 4, was subjected to severe criticism and trolling. Key details in his Wikipedia page, was changed to term him as 'Khalistani'.

"We are taking this seriously. There are indications that there may have been Pakistani involvement and this could have had implications on our national security and harmony," a government official said.

Wikimedia Foundation, the US-based non-profit organisation that operates Wikipedia, told Moneycontrol, that Arshdeep Kaur's page has been semi-protected to prevent its further vandalism.

The foundation further confirmed that the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology got in touch with them regarding the page of Singh, where details related to him were maliciously edited to describe him as a "Khalistani".

Minister of State in the IT ministry, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, took to Twitter to voice his concern around this development.

"No intermediary operating in India can permit this type of misinformation n deliberate efforts to incitement n #userharm - violates our govts expectation of Safe & Trusted Internet," he tweeted.

No intermerdiary operatng in India can permit this type of misinformation n deliberate efforts to incitement n #userharm - violates our govts expectation of Safe & Trusted Internet #wikipedia@GoI_MeitY#SafeTrustedInternetpic.twitter.com/Qm6HdppM1k

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Additionally, IT ministry had also said that a number of intermediaries have acted in violation of Constitutional rights of Indian citizens”.