Oh no Wikiwon't: Russians plan own version of 'distorted' Wikiland

Following the country's short-lived ban on Wikipedia, Russian politicians have come up with another wheeze to divert traffic from the encyclopedia site.

Moscow’s head of communication and culture, Yevgeny Gerasimov, set out plans (selfishly in Russian) on Tuesday (25 August) for a Russian version of the site.

He told Russia's Lenta news website that much of the information on Wikipedia is “distorted”.

“We have a lot of networks and information, in addition to Wikipedia. There are a lot of resources, but it is very important that this information is accurate,” said Gerasimov.

While the global Wikipedia site works with volunteer editors, Moscow’s cultural tzar did not reveal how his pet project would be run or funded.

Earlier this week, Russian telcoms regulator Roskomnadzor banned Wikipedia over an entry on cannabis, but overturned it less than 24 hours later while still blaming the site for not allowing the blocking of individual articles. ®

Bootnote

It’s not just websites. Government departments have been ordered to give preference to Russian-developed software from January 2016. Russian publication Vedomost says that any government-used software must also be registered with the Russian patent authority. ®