Wiretapping Act could spell ‘finito’ for Italian Wikipedia

This week, lawmakers in Italy are debating a controversial new bill which can have disastrous implications for Wikipedia . Yesterday, the encyclopedia posted a lengthy letter on its Italian portal, informing visitors that the location can be shuttered inside the country if parliament passes the proposed DDL Intercettazioni, or “Wiretapping Law.” If ratified, the legislation will require all online publishers to amend any content considered objectionable or defamatory within 48 hours of receiving a complaint. Offenders would face a great of €12,000 (about $16,000), and any requested corrections doesn’t be subject to study. For sure, this presents obvious problems for the crowdsourced (and crowd-edited) Wikipedia, which characterized the law as “an unacceptable restriction of [its] freedom and independence.” The positioning took particular umbrage on the bill’s apparent disregard for third-party review, mentioning that the “opinion of the man allegedly injured is all that may be required” to force a re-write, “whatever the truthfulness of the data deemed as offensive, and its sources.” At that time, the portal continues to be up, but masked by Wikipedia’s letter. If the Wiretapping Law progresses further, however, the organization says it’ll haven’t any choice but to delete its Italian platform altogether.

[Image courtesy of Toutlecine ]