List of people imprisoned for editing Wikipedia
Multiple Wikipedia editors have been imprisoned by their governments for contributing to the encyclopedia.
Belarus
Mark Bernstein (Russian: Марк Израйлевич Бернштейн), a Belarusian editor of the Russian Wikipedia, detained on 11 March 2022 for violating the Russian 2022 war censorship laws by editing Wikipedia articles about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and sentenced to 15 days detention and three years of restricted freedom.
Pavel Pernikaŭ (Belarusian: Павел Аляксандравіч Пернікаў; also Pavel Pernikov, from Russian: Павел Перников), a Belarusian editor of the Belarusian Wikipedia, sentenced on 7 April 2022 to two years in a penal colony for online postings "discrediting the Republic of Belarus" including two edits to Wikipedia about political repression in Belarus.
Saudi Arabia
Osama Khalid (Arabic: السفياني), one of two known Saudi Arabian administrators of the Arabic Wikipedia, was sentenced to five years imprisonment in September 2020 for "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country." Khalid's sentence was increased to 32 years in September 2022 as part of a campaign to lengthen the sentences of political detainees, according to Democracy for the Arab World Now and SMEX, a Lebanese non-governmental organization.
Another Saudi arrested is Ziyad al-Sofiani (Arabic: أسامة خالد). He, too, was charged with "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country." Ziyad was sentenced in September 2020 to eight years in prison.
See also
- Censorship of Wikipedia
- Pierre-sur-Haute military radio station#Controversy over Wikipedia article
- Political prisoner
- Wikipedia community
