Saudi govt agents infiltrated Wikipedia to control content, jailed 2 admins; Wikimedia disputes claims

According to Wikimedia, there was no finding in its investigation that the Saudi government 'infiltrated'

Dubai, Jan 06: The Wikimedia Foundation, the parent company of Wikipedia, has denied the report which claimed that the company found Saudi Arabian government infiltrating Wikipedia by recruiting its highest-ranked administrators into the team in the region.

Washington-based Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and Beirut-based digital rights group SMEX claimed in a report that the Saudi government infiltrated its high-ranked administrators to serve as government agents to control information about the country and prosecuted those who contributed critical information about political detainees.

Responding the allegations, Wikipedia said, "There are material inaccuracies in the statement included from SMEX/DAWN," "There was no finding in our investigation that the Saudi government 'infiltrated'" Wikipedia and influenced users, the US-based Foundation, in a statement, said. However, it pointed out that some users "who may have been Saudi" were among those it has banned.

"While we do not know where these volunteers actually reside, the bans of any volunteers who may have been Saudi were part of a much broader action globally banning 16 editors across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region," the Wikimedia Foundation said in its new statement.

However, there has not been any response from the Saudi authorities yet.

What DAWN and SMEX Said?

The joint statement by DAWN, founded by slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and SMEX, a Lebanon-based group promoting digital rights in the Arab world, alleged that Wikimedia terminated all of its administrators in Saudi Arabia in December 2022 following an internal investigation. The report was based on interviews with sources close to the company and the imprisoned administrators.

"The Saudi government's infiltration of Wikipedia with government agents acting as independent editors, and imprisonment of non-compliant editors, demonstrates not only its persistent use of spies inside international organizations but the dangers of attempting to produce independent content in the country," the report said quoting said Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN's Executive Director. "It's wildly irresponsible for international organizations and businesses to assume their affiliates can ever operate independently of, or safely from, Saudi government control."

Wikipedia functions through volunteer administrators and editors known as "Wikipedia users", authorized by Wikimedia. They are not employees and are not paid for their work, but the US-based foundation has established the Wikipedia community rules to grant them privileges as trusted, independent editors who self-regulate and administer content on Wikipedia. Administrators have exclusive authorization to use tools to edit, delete, and protect content pages (meaning no one else can edit them), and to block and unblock lower-ranking users and editors.

"Infiltrating Wikipedia is another example of the Saudi government's ongoing efforts to control online information and knowledge production in our region," said Mohamed Najem, Executive Director of SMEX. "It's distressing that the Saudi government's efforts to spread misinformation about its abuses has now breached as trusted and credible an international platform as Wikipedia."

Citing sources with knowledge on the matter, the joint statement accused the Saudi government of arresting two high-ranking Wikipedia administrators (Osama Khalid and Ziyad al-Sofiani ) on the same day, charging them with "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" and they were sentenced to 32 years and 8 years in jail by the Specialized Criminal Court.

"It's despicable but entirely predictable that the Saudi government has prosecuted Saudis merely for posting content about the government's human rights abuses," said Raed Jarrar, DAWN's advocacy director. "But Wikimedia also needs to take responsibility for the fact that its authorized editors are today languishing in prison for work they did on Wikipedia pages."

This report comes weeks after a former Twitter employee was jailed for spying for Saudi Arabia.