After Twitter, Wikipedia Shows Aksai Chin As A Part Of China; Govt Asks To Remove The Wrong Map

The government had earlier severely criticised Twitter over a similar map issue — the geotag for Leh showed it as a part of China.

The Union government has asked Wikipedia to take down a map that shows Aksai Chin as a part of China, issuing a strongly-worded letter to the United States-based nonprofit. In a strongly-worded letter, the Ministry of Electronics and IT directed Wikipedia to remove the link under Section 69A (Blocking public access to digital information) of the IT Act. The use of an incorrect map in Wikipedia was brought to the notice of the ministry when a Twitter user tagged the Union home ministry and asked them to take strict action against the website.

Dear @HMOIndia @AmitShah ji wikipedia is showing wrong map of INDIA. Strict action should be taken.@M_Lekhi @bhootnath pic.twitter.com/ZeW5gXNc4j

— Chhatrasal Singh (@ChhatrasalSingh) November 25, 2020

The government said that the content posted on the website was done with the intent to “defame” the country and has the “potential to disturb the sovereignty and harmony of the nation”.  Wikipedia page on India-Bhutan relationship had incorrectly depicted the map of Jammu Kashmir and urged the government to take action. This, however, is not the first time the government has taken up the misrepresentation of the map of India this year. In September this year, the government served Twitter with a notice over a similar map issue — the geotag for Leh showed it as a part of China. The government had asked Twitter to provide an explanation on why action should not be taken against the micro-blogging website. Twitter has since resolved the issue. Although the ministry has not specified a time frame within which to remove the map, it has been monitoring the website to see when action would be taken. As of November 3, ABP News could access the incorrect map.

What if Wikipedia fails to respond?

If Wikipedia fails to respond in a timely fashion, then two legal options are available to the ministry. It can either initiate action under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which can result in the imprisonment of the parties concerned, or invoke section 69A to block access to the website in India. Wikipedia is one of the most popular repositories of information online and works on a volunteer-based model to compile the information, distinct from social media platforms that have recently been pulled up over similar issues.