Govt summons Wikipedia executives over vandalising of India cricketer Arshdeep’s page

The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology today summoned executives from Wikipedia to explain how fake information on cricketer Arshdeep Singh’s page associating him with the separatist Khalistani movement was published on the website.

Officials familiar with the matter said the government is taking the issue very seriously and may also issue a show cause notice. The Wikipedia team is also expected to be asked as to what steps it plans to take to prevent such incidents in the future.

Singh was heavily trolled online after he dropped a catch on Sunday night in the 18th over of an Asia Cup T20 match against Pakistan which the latter went on to win.

The edit history of Singh’s Wikipedia page showed an unregistered user replaced the words “India” with “Khalistan” in Singh’s profile.  However, an anonymous Wikipedia editor undid the changes about 15 minutes later.

Wikipedia is a collaborative database and anyone can add or alter content on it. Anyone is allowed to make or suggest edits, but Wikipedia follows a strict logging mechanism.

India batter and former team captain Virat Kohli backed the young bowler, saying anyone can make mistakes in a high-pressure game, and it is important to learn from them and move on.

Several former cricketers also backed Singh and condemned the vicious trolling. Fans have also come out in support of the young pace bowler.