Wikipedia Attributes The Restriction To Pro-China Interference.

The Foundation has banned seven editors associated with a group from mainland China. Wikimedian Mainland accused the Foundation of "slandering a small group of people for no reason."

'Quick response'

"This case is on an unprecedented scale," said Maggie Dennis, the Foundation's vice president, in a message to volunteers. And he told News that the Foundation had been researching the penetration of Chinese Wikipedia for almost a year. But this summer, "credible threats to volunteer safety" have made us prioritize rapid response.

The Foundation struggles against "arrest," in which a group is given control over editing Wikipedia to support a particular point of view, Ms. wrote. Dennis.

"Content control is the goal," he said.

But he also said, "I can't blame the Chinese state, nor do I have any information about it." Edited Battle Caption challenges Wikipedia article on Hong Kong political events. A "long and deep investigation" into mainland China's Wikimedian, a group that claims to have about 300 members, has resulted in seven users being banned and an additional 12 losing administrative rights, Wikipedia says.

And there are concerns that choices for influential administrative roles could be manipulated and the editorial process overwhelmed. Other editors were also asked to change their behavior. In a post in response to the ban, mainland media Wikimedia accused the Foundation of acting against "people's feelings and opinions."

But Ms. Dennis said the Foundation was aware of the conflict between mainland Wikimedians and volunteers in Hong Kong. In July, Hong Kong's free press covered political events in an article about the "fight between rival editors."

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He also revealed that several had been in online chat groups to discuss the Hong Kong editor's reporting to the city's National Security Police hotline.Some Hong Kong Wikipedia community members are now afraid to "comment on politically sensitive articles," Selina Cheng, a reporter for the Hong Kong Free Press.

"Hong Kong consumers are worried they could be attacked because their identities are leaked," he said. 

"Predisposing Information"

The Foundation had restricted access to personal information in two jurisdictions that had blocked access to Wikipedia - including China. It is feared that some of the young volunteers could be exploited or forced to share personal information by "government officials or others interested in biased information."

Ms. Dennis said the "software" indicated that the Foundation's actions had been successful, and there was no evidence of abuse. Recently, however, anti-intrusion measures have become necessary as people inadvertently take risks by sharing information about themselves, such as:

"Dangerous Damage"

"If the foundation has reliable information that some volunteers are not interacting in good faith - and in this case, there are many - we may feel the need to protect the community by getting rid of these people," he said.

"In such cases, consumers are prohibited."

Ms. Dennis said she did not want any action to be taken to protect Wikipedia or prevent Chinese-speaking people from joining communities - or volunteers in China who have worked "for free and open knowledge" and could be harmed in this way. He wrote on 4,000 Chinese-language Wikimedia outlets: "We are committed to assisting you in this work as we advance with the tools you need to succeed in a safe and productive environment."