List of people imprisoned for editing Wikipedia

Clockwise from top-left: Bassel Khartabil Safadi, photographed 2010 in South Korea, who was executed by the Syrian government in 2015; Mark Bernstein in 2013; Osama Khalid and Ziyad al-Sofiani in 2016

Many Wikipedia editors have been imprisoned by their governments for contributing to the free-content online encyclopedia.

By country

Belarus

Mark Bernstein (Russian: Марк Израйлевич Бернштейн), a Belarusian editor of the Russian Wikipedia, was detained on 11 March 2022 for violating the Russian 2022 war censorship laws by editing Wikipedia articles about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and sentenced to 15 days detention and three years of restricted freedom.^[1][2][3]

Pavel Pernikaŭ (Belarusian: Павел Аляксандравіч Пернікаў),^[a] a Belarusian editor of the Belarusian Wikipedia, was sentenced on 7 April 2022 to two years in a penal colony for online postings "discrediting the Republic of Belarus" including two edits to Wikipedia about political repression in Belarus.^[4][5][6]

Saudi Arabia

Osama Khalid (Arabic: أسامة خالد), a former Saudi Arabian administrator of the Arabic Wikipedia, was sentenced to five years imprisonment in September 2020 for "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country."^[7] Khalid's sentence was increased to 32 years in September 2022 as part of a campaign to lengthen the sentences of political detainees, according to Democracy for the Arab World Now and SMEX, a Lebanese non-governmental organization.^[8][9]

Ziyad al-Sofiani (Arabic: زياد السفياني), also a former administrator of the Arabic Wikipedia, was likewise charged with "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country." He was sentenced in September 2020 to eight years in prison.^[7][8][9]

Syria

Bassel Khartabil (Arabic: باسل خرطبيل) was a contributor to a number of open-source projects including Wikipedia; his arrest in 2012 was likely connected to his online activity. He was executed at Adra Prison near Damascus in 2015.^[10] Several organizations, including the Wikimedia Foundation, established the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship in his honor in 2017, for an initial period of three years.^[11]

See also

• Censorship of Wikipedia
• Pierre-sur-Haute military radio station § Controversy over Wikipedia article
• Political prisoner

Notes

1. also spelt Pavel Pernikov when transliterated from Russian: Павел Перников

References

1. "Belarusian Blogger Handed Parole-Like Sentence". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 24 June 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-06-25.
2. Song, Victoria (11 March 2022). "A top Wikipedia editor has been arrested in Belarus". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
3. "В Беларуси задержали Марка Бернштейна — активиста и популяризатора интернет-энциклопедии Wikipedia.org" [Mark Bernstein – an activist and populariser of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia – was detained in Belarus]. Zerkalo.io (in Russian). 11 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
4. "В Беларуси редактора "Википедии" приговорили к 2 годам колонии по статье о "дискредитации" страны" [In Belarus, the editor of "Wikipedia" was sentenced to 2 years in prison under an article about "discrediting" the country]. Current Time TV (in Russian). 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
5. "В Беларуси редактора "Википедии" приговорили к 2 годам колонии за правки в статьях о протестах" [Wikipedia editor sentenced to 2 years in prison in Belarus for editing articles about protests]. Esquire (Russian edition) (in Russian). 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-01-16. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
6. "Редактора Википедии из Бреста приговорили к двум годам колонии за правки к статьям, "дискредитирующие Белоруссию"" [Wikipedia editor from Brest sentenced to two years in prison for editing articles “discrediting Belarus”]. Fontanka.ru (in Russian). 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
7. Belanger, Ashley (6 January 2023). "Wikipedia admin jailed for 32 years after alleged Saudi spy infiltration". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
8. "Saudi Arabia jails two Wikipedia staff in 'bid to control content'". The Guardian. 5 January 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Wikidata Q116039713.
9. "Saudi Arabia 'infiltrated' Wikipedia to control content, activists say". Middle East Eye. 5 January 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-01-27. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
10. "Bassel Khartabil: Syrian internet freedom activist 'executed'". BBC News. 2 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2023-03-15. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
11. Maher, Katherine; Merkley, Ryan; Surman, Mark (11 August 2017). "Honoring our friend Bassel: Announcing the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship". Diff. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2023-03-15.