<CPOV> "We are all Diu": Greek Wikipedia, politics & censorship

[elektra pavlaki]

From: elektra pavlaki <elektrapav at yahoo.gr>

Theodore Katsanevas is a Greek academic and politician, who used to be Andreas's Papandreou (former Prime Minister of Greece) son-in law. Two years ago, Katsanevas demanded the removal of part of the content of the biographical Wikipedia article about him and filed a lawsuit against the contributor “Diu” and the GFOSS (Greek Free/Open Source Software Society) for the presumed offenses against his person. The controversial content was a reference in the article to the will of Andreas Papandreou where he referred to Katsanevas as the "shame" for his family. Katsanevas asks the court to impose a 200.000 euros fine to the user and imprisonment for one year.

What makes this case interesting is that the contributor had documented the reference, providing citations from multiple newspapers covering the topic. According to a relevant discussion that took place in the Greek Wikipedia (https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Βικιπαίδεια:Είμαστε_όλοι_Diu/en), this is the first time worldwide that a politician brings a case to court against a specific Wikipedia contributor.
 
User “Diu” stated that this lawsuit does not only target a specific contributor but the project of Wikipedia as a whole, since it’s a clear case of censorship. He also wonders in his interview why Katsanevas did not sue the newspapers that were used as the basis for the article. He concludes, that probably this happens because simply a Wikipedia user makes an easier target.

Today, “Diu” is called to appear before the judge. 

You can find the announcement of the Greek Wikipedia community here: https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Βικιπαίδεια:Είμαστε_όλοι_Diu/en  (translated in "We are all Diu"). Unfortunately the contributor's interview is in Greek. 

Two more interesting facts: 1, The Wikimedia Foundation will cover his legal expenses, assuming that the user hasn't violated the law nor the policies of Wikipedia 2. The article's history shows that Katsanevas's lawyers have tried to remove the content, but it was soon restored by other users... which kind of shows that Katsanevas has no idea οf how the project works, right? :D Even if he wins the trial, this could not refrain other users from reposting it.

Elektra
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