1) The document discusses issues around responsibility for content on Wikipedia and whether the Wikimedia Foundation can be held liable. It discusses several court cases from France, the US, Italy, and Germany that found Wikimedia was not responsible as a host but may have a duty to review content if notified. 2) The document also discusses a specific legal case in Greece involving negative content about a political figure, where the court ordered Wikimedia to temporarily remove insulting phrases until the case was resolved. 3) Additional topics covered include Wikipedia governance, neutrality, openness, anonymity, and balancing community self-regulation with the potential for bias.

1. We are all Diù: a tale of wiki edits, defamation and Greek politics
Alexandra Giannopoulou

2. “to encourage the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual,
educational content, and to provide the full content of these wiki-based projects to
the public free of charge”.

3. Let’s build an
encyclopedia!
A community of editors

4. Is Wikimedia responsible for Wikipedia content?
NON!
1) France: District Court of Paris, 29 October 2007,
M. B., M. P.T., M. F .D. v. Wikimedia Foundation Inc.
“the parties agree that the Wikimedia Foundation has been summoned only as a hosting service
provider, in particular for the purpose of terminating the harm caused by the content”.

5. Is Wikimedia responsible for Wikipedia content?
2) USA: Superior Court of New Jersey, 21 July 2008
Bauer v. Wikimedia
NO!
“Wikimedia is a provider and user of an interactive computer service and is therefore immune
from all claims”.

6. Is Wikimedia responsible for Wikipedia content?
NO!
3) Italy: Civil Court of Rome, 20 June 2013: Previti v. Wikimedia Foundation Inc.
District Court of Rome, 9 July 2014: A. Angelucci, G. Angelucci v. Wikimedia Foundation Inc.
Italia
“The Wikimedia Foundation] offer[s] a service precisely structured around the users’ freedom to
compile the encyclopedia entries. It is exactly such freedom that leaves out the duty to provide
any guarantee, and that is balanced by the possibility for anyone to modify the encyclopedia
contents and to ask for their elimination . . .”.

7. Is Wikimedia responsible for Wikipedia content?
NEIN!
4) Germany: Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart, 2 October 2013
“Wikimedia is a “service provider” and not a “content provider as it is merely distributing
information through publication and not “alleging” that information”.

8. Wikipedia Greece
Theodore Katsanevas v. Dimitrios Liourdis (Diù), ELLAK

9. In Papandreou's will, as publicly disclosed on 13 September 1996, he described Katsanevas as
a "disgrace to the family" (Greek: όνειδος της οικογένειας) and said that "his aim was to
politically inherit the history of struggle of Georgios Papandreou and Andreas Papandreou”
(Georgios Papandreou was Andreas' father and was also a Greek Prime Minister).

10. “Greenpeace supports and organizes a
campaign in favor of organic products.
When a citizen gets food poisoning from the
organic spinach he bought, he decides to
sue Greenpeace because it supports organic
products”.
Greek Free / Open Source Software Society (GFOSS)

11. As of August 2012, there were 285 Wikipedias

12. Community Self-regulation model

13. Neutrality
Openness
Be civil!
Referencing
Referencing

14. “If an allegation or incident is noteworthy, relevant, and well
documented, it belongs in the article – even if it is negative and
the subject dislikes all mention of it”.

15. “You are responsible for your own
actions: You are legally responsible
for your edits and contributions on
Wikimedia Projects”.
User anonymity?

16. The user has to temporarily remove from the Greek-language Wikipedia article all the phrases
that the claimant believes constitute an insult to his honour and person.

17. Is Wikimedia responsible for Wikipedia content?
OXI?
4) Greece: Not examined by the court
Risk of liability from the interim order?
“fails to take down defamatory content once it receives notice that it is hosting such content “
“While Wikimedia does not have to check beforehand whether the contents of a Wikipedia
article are true, it has a duty to check if somebody complains about the article”

18. Wikipedia is not a democracy

19. Communities are not always right

20. Streisand effect
What is an effective take-down?
Biased and incomplete
Wikipedia entries: Are the
pillars respected?