Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2023-03-09/In the media

Russia fines Wikipedia for failing to toe the party line on the Ukraine War
As reported by Ars Technica, Yahoo News, Reuters and no doubt many other places, Russia has once again fined Wikipedia for not following the Kremlin's official narrative on the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, the third fine so levied since the invasion began last year. The 2 million ruble fine (about $27,000 USD) is for failure to comply with takedown requests. The other fines, for 5 million and 2 million rubles, were for failing to delete Russian-language articles on the topics Russian Invasions of Ukraine (2022), Battle for Kyiv, War Crimes during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Shelling of Hospital in Mariupol, Bombing of the Mariupol Theater, Massacre in Bucha, Non-violent resistance of Ukraine's civilian population in the course of Russia's invasion, and Evaluations of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The Wikimedia Foundation has promised to not give in to Russia's pressure, though it's not clear from any of the articles whether they're going to pay up.

In brief
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 * Jimmy Wales interview: The Telegraph has an interview with Jimmy Wales in which he rather stupidly says: "So, you know, I'm not particularly woke. I'm quite sleepy." Given woke is a reference to being alert to discrimination and prejudice, why is he so eager to say that he (and Wikipedia as a whole) aren't woke? This Signpost contributor would like us to be aware of bias, discrimination, and prejudice.
 * Sue Gardner among critics of proposed media law in Canada: As reported by NiemanLab, a bill that would force search engines and other such media companies linking to news to pay the creators of that news in Canada is opposed by Sue Gardner and others. Modelled after an Australian bill, it frankly seems to neglect the point of search engines.
 * Does Wikipedia distort the role of Poland in the Holocaust?: In response to the accusations and rebuttals we covered last issue and the ArbCom case sprung up in response, we have coverage from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, republished in The Times of Israel, and Der Spiegel and Berliner Zeitung also get in on it. For more on the Grabowski/Klein essay that sparked this story, see Recent research in this issue of The Signpost.
 * Glasgow looks back on Wikipedia's one millionth article: GlasgowLive looks back on Jordanhill railway station, Wikipedia's one millionth article.
 * Another paid editing service: The Magazine Plus reports on yet another clandestine service offering a "valuable asset" – "to establish [ weasels individuals] as thought leaders, experts, or influencers" who have for some inexplicable reason been overlooked by the encyclopedia up till now.
 * Annie Rauwerda continues to be awesome; newspapers agree: Annie Rauwerda, of Depths of Wikipedia fame, and also winner of 2022's "Media Contributor of the Year" at the last Wikimania, is covered in the Nashville Scene article "Depths of Wikipedia’s Annie Rauwerda Is Obsessed With Accessible Information".
 * Apparently we suck: An article by "a senior Brexiteer who has seen Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings and others at close quarters" in conservative UK magazine The Critic brings up potentially-interesting-if-true claims about an editor sockpuppetting (provable) in a supposed attempt to hide controversial aspects of a UK academic (not-so-provable), then goes on to attack us all as a bunch of lefties working against every conservative politician ever. BLP issues (the portrayal of the academic is pretty much a smear campaign) prevent us saying much more.
 * Slow progress: The Evening Standard reports that women "now" (they're actually citing a 2021 report) make up 15% of Wikipedia editors, up from 13% over a decade ago. The Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines, whose adoption the Board is about to consider, also get a mention in the piece.
 * DuckDuckGo, OpenAI and Anthropic to launch Wikipedia-based AI tool: "DuckAssist" will "pull from Wikipedia (as well as Encyclopedia Britannica in some instances) to provide a natural language response to your questions", reports Engadget.
 * Anonymous: Taiwan News reports that as part of its latest hack involving a Chinese weather balloon, Anonymous has taken Wikipedia to task for "allegedly underrepresenting women in its articles, having a 'spending cancer,' engaging in deletionism, and committing POV skewing. It also accused Wikipedia of failing to adequately support two Wikipedia Arabic editors, Osama Khalid and Ziyad al-Sofiani, who have been imprisoned by the Saudi government for 'swaying public opinion' and 'violating public morals'." A similar Anonymous hack in October last year was reportedly carried out in response to a "Chinese information operation" targeting Wikipedia content.