Russia has recently launched a government-sponsored online encyclopedia called Ruviki, which is essentially a copy of the original Russian Wikipedia. Unlike its counterpart, Ruviki follows strict editing rules to comply with Russian laws and avoid any information that may reflect negatively on the government. The articles in Ruviki exclude mentions of “foreign agents,” who are individuals or entities that express opinions about the government and are supported by outside nations.
Wikimedia RU, the Russian-language chapter of the nonprofit organization that runs Wikipedia, was forced to shut down due to political pressure related to the war in Ukraine. The former head of this chapter, Vladimir Medeyko, now runs Ruviki and has stated that Wikipedia had issues with reliability and neutrality. In response, he plans to copy and censor all 1.9 million Russian-language Wikipedia articles to provide “reliable” information for Russian users. Articles on controversial topics such as the war in Ukraine, torture in prisons, and scandals involving the Russian government have been heavily edited or removed entirely from Ruviki.
Graphic designer Constantine Konovalov has highlighted significant changes made between Wikipedia RU and Ruviki articles on various topics, including free speech, human rights, political prisoners, and censorship in Russia. He described the censorship as reminiscent of George Orwell’s novel “1984,” where propaganda is controlled by a central authority known as the Ministry of Truth. Even the article on “1984” in Ruviki omits crucial information about the Ministry of Truth.
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