Why are Russians in such a hurry to download content from Wikipedia?

In Russia, some online resources may soon disappear or at least become difficult to access.

Russia’s Federal Service for Communication, Information Technology and Media Supervision Roskomnadzor has warned that Wikipedia could be banned. This is because the Russian language article on the recent invasion of Ukraine does not agree with the Kremlin’s narrative.

The Kremlin threatens Wikipedia

Earlier this month, Roskomnadzor threatened to block Wikipedia. This was after a post was published on the site entitled “Russian Invasion of Ukraine (2022)”. The free encyclopedia has already refused to comply with the requests.

Despite the threats, Russia has so far not blocked Wikipedia. But the government has proven in the past that it can do that.

Cutting mess

The Russian government has already shut down a major broadband service provider, the country’s main Internet network. In addition, sites such as Adobe’s Creative Cloud, Facebook and Instagram have been blocked or blocked by local authorities.

So as a precaution the Russians decided to download the entire Wikipedia archive in the local language. Massively.

Significant collection work

The non-profit organization Kiwix has compiled all 1.8 million Russian language articles. A stream To the delight of the downloaders. Thanks to the free software, Kiwix allows you to view web content for free and offline.

In total, the 29GB file has been downloaded 150,100 times this month. This represents 1.8 million articles and a dramatic increase of 4,000% compared to January 2022. Stone slabRussians now make up 42% of all site traffic.

Recently, Russia has become the most downloaded country for Wikipedia.

Mukavai Wikipedia

As a reminder, the Kremlin censored Wikipedia in 2015 because it found objectionable articles such as “smoking cannabis” and cannabis hashish such as “saras”. Roskomnadzor sent a letter asking to remove the article “Charas”, Wikimedia Russia refused. In response, Roskomnadzor blocked the entire site for a day.

In addition, President Vladimir Putin has enacted a draconian law that provides for up to 15 years in prison for journalists who differ from the Kremlin. This is how CNN, the BBC and other media decided to stop broadcasting. Microsoft, Apple and Google all pulled their services in political opposition, while Russia banned Facebook and Instagram.

But Russia’s hostility to the media goes beyond its latest warning. In recent weeks, a Russian editor of Wikipedia has been arrested for spreading “fake anti-Russian content”.