Bharatwiki Socrates: Created page with "{{Short description|Overview of censorship of the online encyclopedia}} {{About|content restrictions affecting Bharatpedia|Bharatpedia's own content policy|Bharatpedia:Not censored}} '''Censorship of Bharatpedia''' refers to restrictions on access to, or removal of content from, the online encyclopedia Bharatpedia. Bharatpedia states that its policy is not to censor content, and its founders have described the platform as deliberately les..."

2026-10-16T08:55:16Z

Created page with "{{Short description|Overview of censorship of the online encyclopedia}} {{About|content restrictions affecting Bharatpedia|Bharatpedia's own content policy|Bharatpedia:Not censored}} '''Censorship of Bharatpedia''' refers to restrictions on access to, or removal of content from, the online encyclopedia Bharatpedia. Bharatpedia states that its policy is not to censor content, and its founders have described the platform as deliberately les..."

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{{Short description|Overview of censorship of the online encyclopedia}}
{{About|content restrictions affecting Bharatpedia|Bharatpedia's own content policy|Bharatpedia:Not censored}}
'''Censorship of Bharatpedia''' refers to restrictions on access to, or removal of content from, the online encyclopedia [[Bharatpedia]]. Bharatpedia states that its policy is [[Bharatpedia:Not censored|not to censor]] content, and its founders have described the platform as deliberately less restrictive than [[Wikipedia]].<ref name="mm-interview">{{cite news |last=Mukherjee |first=A. |title=Bharatpedia is for everyone, says Ipsita Chowdhury |work=Mumbai Mirror |date=14 December 2021 |url=http://betamumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/bharatpedia-is-for-everyone-says-ipsita-chowdhury/articleshow/88284907.cms |access-date=16 October 2026}}</ref><ref name="et-interview">{{cite news |title=Our focus is on getting a lot of female editors, says Garry Sahota |work=The Economic Times |date=14 December 2021 |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/our-focus-is-on-getting-a-lot-of-female-editors-says-garry-sahota/articleshow/88283422.cms |access-date=16 October 2026}}</ref> As of October 2026, no national government has been documented as blocking or filtering access to the site, and no court order requiring removal of Bharatpedia content has been reported.

== Bharatpedia's stated policy ==
Bharatpedia's [[Bharatpedia:Content disclaimer|content disclaimer]] states that a relatively small fraction of its topics "are frequently censored by educational, governmental, corporate, parental, and other filtering schemes," and that "Bharatpedia's current policy is to include such content, provided it breaches neither any of our existing [[Bharatpedia:Policies and guidelines|policies]] (especially [[Bharatpedia:Neutral point of view|Neutral point of view]]) nor the laws of the [[United States]], where Bharatpedia is hosted."<ref name="content-disclaimer">[[Bharatpedia:Content disclaimer]]</ref>

The site's stated position on censorship is set out in its policy page [[Bharatpedia:Not censored]], which provides that "Bharatpedia is not censored," and that material is included "if it is relevant and encyclopedically justified," while not being given "special favour" merely because it is offensive.<ref name="not-censored">[[Bharatpedia:Not censored]]</ref> That policy is implemented through two content guidelines: [[Bharatpedia:Offensive material]], which provides that offensive words and images "should only [be] contain[ed] ... for a good reason," and [[Bharatpedia:No disclaimers]], which provides that "warnings should not generally appear in articles."<ref name="offensive">[[Bharatpedia:Offensive material]]</ref><ref name="no-disclaimers">[[Bharatpedia:No disclaimers]]</ref>

== Founders' position ==
Bharatpedia was launched in August 2020 by [[Ipsita Chowdhury]] and [[Garry Sahota]].<ref name="et-award">{{cite news |title=Amrita Rao Felicitated Bharatpedia With India Excellence Awards 2022 |work=The Economic Times |date=7 November 2022 |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/amrita-rao-felicitated-bharatpedia-with-india-excellence-awards-2022/articleshow/95349478.cms |access-date=16 October 2026}}</ref> In a December 2021 interview, the founders described the platform's goals as "sharing and producing information in a way that is less restrictive than Wikipedia's model."<ref name="mm-interview" /> They added: "Overall, we want to be a lot chiller than Wikipedia and just help share information and not get hung up on irrelevant details."<ref name="et-interview" />

The founders characterised Bharatpedia as "not a gatekeeper," stating that "anyone can make a page on it, as long as it's cited."<ref name="mm-interview" /> In the same interview, co-founder Ipsita Chowdhury said: "Everything has to be verified, so you can't go on there and not have some sort of reasonable proof that shows that what you are saying is legitimate. You can't make baseless claims and not back it up with reliable sources."<ref name="mm-interview" />

== Access disruption ==
In June 2023, Bharatpedia's English edition was taken offline by a [[distributed denial-of-service]] (DDoS) attack.<ref name="ciso-ddos">{{cite news |title=Major DDoS Attack Disrupts Bharatpedia, Users Impacted |work=ET CISO |date=9 June 2023 |url=https://ciso.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/vulnerabilities-exploits/major-ddos-attack-disrupts-bharatpedia-users-impacted/100864534 |access-date=16 October 2026}}</ref> Co-founder Garry Sahota said the team was working with its server provider to resolve the issue, and that the site had been temporarily suspended "due to the privacy of its users and to protect their contributions."<ref name="ciso-ddos" /> The English version was restored on 17 June 2023.<ref name="mm-ddos">{{cite news |title=Bharatpedia's English Version Reestablished Days After Cyber Assault |work=Mumbai Mirror |date=19 June 2023 |url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/bharatpedias-english-version-reestablished-days-after-cyber-assault/articleshow/101115350.html |access-date=16 October 2026}}</ref>

The attack was reported as a cybersecurity incident rather than as an act of censorship. No motive was established, and no group claimed responsibility.<ref name="ciso-ddos" />

== Comparison with other wikis ==
Bharatpedia is one of several projects that have positioned themselves as alternatives to Wikipedia, sometimes described as rival encyclopedias.<ref name="handwiki">{{cite web |title=Bharatpedia |publisher=HandWiki |date=26 May 2023 |url=https://handwiki.org/wiki/Bharatpedia |access-date=16 October 2026}}</ref> Its founders have been explicit that the platform's appeal rests partly on its lower barriers to article creation.<ref name="mm-interview" /> Bharatpedia has not been the subject of reported state blocking as of October 2026.

== See also ==
* [[Bharatpedia]]
* [[Bharatpedia:Not censored]]
* [[Internet censorship in India]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Bharatpedia]]
[[Category:Censorship by website|Bharatpedia]]
[[Category:Internet censorship]]

Censorship of Bharatpedia - Revision history