Seven editors have been banned from Wikipedia in a bid to stop what the US-based Wikimedia Foundation Inc termed “infiltration” by a Chinese group to control the volunteer-edited encyclopedia’s online content, BBC News reported on Friday.
The banned editors had been linked to a group based in China and their attempt to “infiltrate” the Web site posed a threat to the “very foundations of Wikipedia,” the foundation told BBC News.
The foundation had been investigating the assault on the Chinese-language Wikipedia for almost a year, BBC News reported, citing foundation vice president of community resilience and sustainability Maggie Dennis.
Photo: EPA-EFE
She said that information this summer pointing to “credible threats” to the safety of volunteers prompted the foundation to initiate a “rapid response.”
“This case is unprecedented in scope,” the report cited Dennis as writing in an internal message to volunteers.
The foundation is battling against “capture” by a group that seeks to edit Wikipedia to advance a particular viewpoint, she wrote, adding: “Controlling content was an aim.”
However, she said: “I am not in position to point fingers at the Chinese state nor in possession of information that would lead me to do so.”
BBC News cited Hong Kong Free Press reporter Selina Cheng (鄭嘉如) as saying that members of the territory’s Wikipedia community are fearful of commenting on articles that the authorities deem sensitive.
They fear “they may be targeted as a result of their identities being known,” she said.
Weeks earlier, the foundation enacted security measures to protect the personal information of Wikipedia users in territories that block access to the Web site, including China, BBC News said.
Wikipedia also took action against the editors because it feared they might have convinced users to reveal their identities by arranging social events or exchanging messages, then betraying them to the authorities, Dennis told BBC News.
“When the foundation has credible information that some volunteers may not be interacting in good faith — and in this case, there was plenty — we may feel it necessary to protect the community by removing those individuals from access,” she told BBC News.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
NEGOTIATIONS: Taiwan has good relations with Washington and the outlook for the negotiations looks promising, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Taiwan’s GDP growth this year is expected to decrease by 0.43 to 1.61 percentage points due to the effects of US tariffs, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei yesterday, citing a preliminary estimate by a private research institution. Taiwan’s economy would be significantly affected by the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs slapped by the US, which took effect yesterday, Liu said, adding that GDP growth could fall below 3 percent and potentially even dip below 2 percent to 1.53 percent this year. The council has commissioned another institution
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS