Activists claim that Saudi Arabia has ‘infiltrated’ Wikipedia and detained two administrators in an effort to restrict material on the website, only weeks after a former Twitter employee was sentenced to prison for ‘spying’ for the country.
The campaigners claimed that one administrator received a 32-year sentence in prison and another received an eight-year sentence.
Two rights groups said that a Wikimedia probe into the Saudi government’s penetration into the region’s upper levels revealed Saudi citizens acting or being coerced into serving as agents.
In a joint statement, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and Beirut-based SMEX reported that Wikipedia’s inquiry had ‘shown that the Saudi government has penetrated the top ranks in Wikipedia’s team in the region.’
Washington-headquartered DAWN, founded by slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and SMEX, which promotes digital rights in the Arab world, cited ‘whistleblowers and trusted sources’ for the information.
Wikimedia or the Saudi government did not issue any comment immediately.
DAWN and SMEX’s statement comes after Wikimedia last month announced global bans for 16 users ‘who were engaging in conflict of interest editing on Wikipedia projects in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region’.
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