Wikicensorship protest
Hard lesson: if you attempt censorship, you better hope it works….
Hard lesson: if you attempt censorship, you better hope it works. A
German politican who tried to stop information about himself being
posted on Wikipedia backfired, garnering massive publicity for secrets
he thought best kept, and putting his political party on a hotseat.
German parliamentarian Lutz Heilmann told a court his biography
on Wikipedia was “false, slanderous and therefore damaging to my
personal rights.” A judge ordered the interim closure of the site’s German
portal. There was “a fast and furious reaction from
users,” reports Der Spiegel — and the portal was soon back online.
It’s
a case study of failed censorship, reveals how Wikipedia edits have
become a battlefield for people lacking real lives, but more
importantly, it’s hopeful to see that citizens will defend of freedom
of information.
