Government website sparks Wikipedia battle

Online encyclopedia Wikipedia has deleted a link to a website that is listed on the Government’s blacklist, just days after the same link was removed from a popular forum.

The link to the blocked site was posted on the Wikipedia page for the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the same agency responsible for enforcing the blacklist.

According to Itnews.com.au, internet activists protesting against the blacklist, which is the basis behind the Government’s internet filtering plan, posted the link on ACMA’s Wikipedia page to prove how absurd the blacklist has become.

The same link was posted on the Whirlpool forums earlier this week, before ACMA issued a “link deletion notice” to data hosting service Bulletproof demanding the company remove the link or face an $11,000 fine.

“It can’t issue a removal order to Whirlpool for linking to an anti-abortion site, but not take equivalent action against Wikipedia,” the activist told ITnews.

“If ACMA blacklists their own Wikipedia page, well that says it all doesn’t it? If they don’t, that is a very, very strong reason to call them hypocrites for making vastly different responses to two sites linking to the very same material.”

But Wikipedia editors have removed the link, claiming activists should not use the collaborative website to advance a political ideology. 

Wiki administrator “Nunh-huh” deleted the link and warned that users should not  “misuse Wikipedia by using it to tweak the nose of your local censor”.

But the link continued to re-appear on the site, sparking an online war between the protestors and Wikipedia administrators. A number of users questioned why the link was being removed, citing the current debate in Australia about the blacklist and ISP-level filtering plan.

Administrator “Bidgee” deleted the link and requested Wikipedia users to stop toying with their local political authority.

“I don’t believe it’s relevant to add the web site link in the article as it’s clearly trying to bring Wikipedia into the issue, which is something the community doesn’t need.”

Another editor has disallowed any further edits until 25 March claiming “excessive vandalism” and “disruption to prove a point”.

ACMA did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

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