Russian elite edits articles about themselves on Wikipedia

Articles in the largest Internet encyclopedia, Wikipedia, about representatives of the Russian elite, in particular large businessmen, are subject to edits, as a result of which they are trying to remove information from Wikipedia that they are under sanctions or may be in any way connected with the Kremlin. Investigation about this published publication “Important Stories” in collaboration with the Wikiganda project.

The authors of the investigation studied the edits of almost a hundred biographical articles in Russian and English Wikipedia dedicated to Russian billionaires, top managers, artists and public figures and found several patterns in them. In particular, they correct information about the inclusion of billionaires in sanctions lists or their property in the West (Dmitry Pumpyansky, Andrey Skoch, Tatyana Bakalchuk, God Nisanov are mentioned in this context). Some edits made by anonymous people are subsequently rejected by other editors (the most famous example of this kind is an attempt to edit data on any connection with Russia by Yandex co-founder Arkady Volozh). Information about possible connections with the Kremlin is also being removed; in particular, changes were made to articles about Alfa Group co-owners Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven.

They also correct information about the origin and activities in Russia, trying in every possible way to minimize information about it. Thus, anonymous editors tried to correct the biography of opera singer Anna Netrebko by deleting part of the article that in 2014 she donated money for the restoration of the Donbass Opera and was photographed with the flag of the so-called Novorossiya. In the biography of Alexander Mamut, the former owner of the Rambler holding, they wanted to indicate that he has not been associated with Russia for a long time, but is an Israeli entrepreneur living in London.

They also tried to remove data on sanctions against Putin’s daughters Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova from Wikipedia. From the publication about Tikhonova they also tried to remove information from the investigation of “Important Stories” and Der Spiegel about her child and his alleged father, ballet dancer Igor Zelensky. They tried to erase data about Dmitry Peskov’s son Nikolai Choles, notes Siberia. Realities.

From a Russian-language article about State Duma deputy and comrade-in-arms of Ramzan Kadyrov, Adam Delimkhanov, several times they unsuccessfully tried to remove the fragment that he “regularly recorded staged videos of the military, in which they allegedly participate in hostilities,” for which Chechen units in Ukraine nicknamed “Tiktok troops”.

As the interlocutor of “Important Stories”, who is related to Wikipedia, notes, “some large entrepreneurs and politicians may not have wanted articles about themselves, but since someone created it, they have to join in the struggle for meaning. Otherwise they will write more.” everything, and then it’s all displayed in the first line of search results.” The publication recalls that, as it turned out, articles from Wikipedia were previously used even by EU officials to justify sanctions against a number of Russian businessmen.

They are willing to pay up to $5,000 to edit an article about a person, said one of the editors of the encyclopedia with whom the journalists spoke. Edits are usually made by anonymous editors.