Litigation involving the Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia list article
The Wikimedia Foundation has been involved in various lawsuits, generally regarding the content of Wikipedia and the actions and anonymity of those who edit it. The Foundation has won some of these and lost others. In the United States, the Wikimedia Foundation typically wins defamation lawsuits brought against it due to protections that web platforms receive from laws like Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934. However, in cases in Europe and other countries, courts may rule otherwise. The Wikimedia Foundation often ignores these orders, and countries cannot reach across borders to enforce any ruling. India, in particular, is the only country that has forced Wikimedia to remove an entire article from Wikipedia, and the Indian government threatened to block access to the site within its borders in a separate case.
Other cases have resulted in the Foundation revealing personal information about its editors in response to court orders and removing certain information from Wikipedia articles and their edit histories.
This listing is not meant to be exhaustive and only includes cases that have been covered by sources independent of the litigants.
Outcomes not in favor of the Wikimedia Foundation
In May 2011, Louis Bacon, a hedge fund manager, obtained a court order in Great Britain, where he owned property, against the Wikimedia Foundation, The Denver Post and WordPress.com to compel them to reveal the identity of persons who he claimed had anonymously defamed him on Wikipedia and the other two websites. However, legal experts said that the order was probably unenforceable in the United States.
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