A Moscow court has actually fined Wikipedia operator Wikimedia Foundation 3 million rubles (about $38,300) on charges of propaganda of pedophilia, the independent news outlet Mediazona reported Monday.The Tagansky District Court did not specify which Wikipedia short articles triggered the case or what material was considered illegal.This is at least the seventh administrative case the court has actually heard against the WikimediaFoundation in the previous 7 years, according to Mediazona.Previous fines have actually targeted the structure over Wikipedia entries on Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Japanese author Wataru Tsurumis book The Complete Manual of Suicide.The Wikimedia Foundations Russian department revealed its closure in December 2023, though its director said the Russian-language version of Wikipedia would continue operating.Russias communications watchdog Roskomnadzor previouslyaccused Wikipedia of spreading false information about the war in Ukraine.Amid an ongoing wartime crackdown on dissent, fears have grown that Russian authorities might block access to the website entirely.
Authorities have long pushed for a domestic alternative to the online encyclopedia, citing supposed Western bias, but those efforts have actually stopped working to gain traction.