Wikipedia agrees to share details with Delhi High Court about users who made edits to page on ANI

Wikipedia told the Delhi High Court on Monday that it is willing to disclose to the Court in a sealed cover the basic subscriber information (BSI) details about users who wrote/ edited the page about news agency ANI [Wikimedia Foundation Inc v. ANI Media Private Limited & Ors].

A Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was hearing Wikipedia's appeal against a single-judge order to disclose the identity of users who allegedly included defamatory statements on the Wikipedia page on ANI.

Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal appeared for Wikipedia today and volunteered to effect service of notice in the appeal to these users. He said that the service of notice to these users would also be intimated to ANI, albeit without any details to identify the users.

An unredacted version of an affidavit to show service of notice can be shared only with the Court, Sibal suggested.

In this way, the identities of such Wikipedia users can remain confidential in the public domain, while the Court has all necessary information to proceed further with hearings, he pointed out.

"Based on information available to us, we can effect service. We can file an affidavit (to show steps have been taken to serve notice) ... We will share a copy with (ANI's counsel) although particulars will be redacted ... The unredacted one, we will place in a sealed cover so that the Court has that. So the Court has the access, no body else does, service is affected ... And we can proceed whichever way," Sibal said.

ANI's counsel replied that Wikipedia should take full responsibility to ensure the service of such notice to these users.

Sibal said that all due steps would be taken based on the electronic information available about these users with Wikipedia. Sibal suggested that a consent order could be passed on this point.

The matter has been posted tomorrow to examine if such a consent order can be passed by the Court.

The appeal before the Division Bench is linked to a defamation suit filed by news agency ANI alleging that the Wikipedia was allowing defamatory edits to ANI's page on the online encyclopedia's platform.

In July, the Court issued a summons to Wikipedia and ordered it to disclose information about three people who made the edits on ANI's Wikipedia page.

After ANI complained that Wikipedia had not complied with this directive, single-judge Justice Navin Chawla had taken strong objection to Wikipedia's conduct and issued a notice for contempt of court.

The single-judge also ordered an authorised representative of Wikipedia to be personally present in Court on October 25, when the contempt case was listed next.

These single-judge directives were challenged by Wikipedia before the Division Bench.

In an earlier hearing, the Division Bench also took a dim view of the encyclopedia's reluctance to disclose information on users who allegedly made defamatory edits on ANI's Wikipedia page.

During the appellate hearings, this Bench also ordered Wikipedia to take down a page created to chronicle all of these court battles, which had been titled  'Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation' since it may interfere with the ongoing court proceedings. The Court had ordered this to be done within 36 hours.

ANI initially complained that Wikipedia had flouted this directive as well in a contempt of court plea filed before the High Court. However, the page was taken down before the Court heard the matter and the contempt plea on this aspect was closed.

Meanwhile, ANI's defamation case is presently pending before a single Bench comprising Justice S Subramonium.

In a recent hearing, the single-judge had orally observed that it was "dangerous" how Wikipedia functions as a platform, since anyone can edit pages on the platform.

Justice Prasad on Monday said that the Court will have to understand the architecture of Wikipedia before deciding an interim injunction application by ANI.

The Court could not hear the matter completely and has adjourned it for a later date.