Russians begin to download Wikipedia en masse before its possible ban in the country

The banning of various social networks and media outlets in Russia has caused platform services such as Facebook and Instagram to be completely suspended in this country following the invasion of Ukraine. Faced with the possibility that more websites will be disabled in the coming days, the citizens of this nation have begun to take action in case the same thing happens with one of the most visited portals: Wikipedia.

YOU CAN SEE: War Russia – Ukraine LIVE: situation in Mariúpol, curfew in kyiv and last minute live

The free encyclopedia, considered one of the most consulted sources of information on the Internet, could be the next victim of the Kremlin and, for this reason, according to a report by slateseveral Russians are downloading the website in its entirety and in their official language in anticipation of the Russian government’s ban.

This initiative not only has the participation of several Russian citizens but also of companies such as Kiwix, a service that compresses Wikipedia so that anyone can download and consult it without having Internet access. So far, this firm has already collected 1.8 million articles from the Russian version of the website and published it through a 29 GB torrent file.

YOU CAN SEE: Russia says it will use its nuclear weapons under only one circumstance

The goal is for the Russian people to have access to the encyclopedia and as much data as possible before the alleged blocking of Wikipedia by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technologies and the Media of Russia is done.

As pointed out by digitaltrends, in Russia, many citizens turn to Wikipedia to stay informed about the latest events that occur in the country in parallel to the coverage provided by the state media, which often ends up responding to the interests of Vladimir Putin’s administration. This independent alternative is of paramount importance in a conflict such as the one between Russia and Ukraine.

• War Russia – Ukraine LIVE: situation in Mariúpol, curfew in kyiv and last minute live
• Russia says it will use its nuclear weapons under only one circumstance
• The United States warns that the war in Ukraine will not end quickly or easily
• Which countries are part of NATO and not the European Union (and vice versa)?
• The US and its allies will announce new sanctions against Russia on Thursday over the Ukraine war

Source: Elcomercio

Deshawn