Govt to block Wikipedia in India? Here’s all you need to know

The central government has instructed Wikipedia to remove the link to an incorrect map of the union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir, media reports suggest.

The map is linked on the Wikipedia page on the India-Bhutan relationship, shows the region of Aksai Chin as a part of China, Hindustan Times reported.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) on November 27 issued an order under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000, the report said.

PTI reported that a Twitter user had highlighted that the Wikipedia page on India-Bhutan relationship contained an incorrect map of Jammu and Kashmir, and asked the government to take action.

MeitY asked Wikipedia to delete the link to the map since it violates the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India, the news agency reported.

The Centre can take legal action against Wikipedia, including blocking access to the entire platform, if it does not make the required changes, sources told PTI.

This is not the first time this year that the government has pulled up a website for showing an incorrect map of India.

In November, the government had issued a notice to micro-blogging platform Twitter for showing Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir instead of the UT of Ladakh.

Twitter had then issued a written apology to a key parliamentary panel for wrongly showing showing Leh and Ladakh as a part of China