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Detention of Mark Bernstein

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bilorv (talk | contribs) at 21:56, 13 March 2022 (→Youth and residence: removing reference to higher education - no source, and we shouldn't be giving personal details (true or not) about a person whose safety is at risk unless they've been widely reported (WP:BLP)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other people named Mark Bernstein, see Mark Bernstein (disambiguation).
Mark Bernstein
Марк Бернштейн
Bernstein in 2013
EducationBelarusian National Technical University
Years active2009–2022

Mark Bernstein (Russian: Марк Бернштейн) is a blogger and editor of the Russian Wikipedia, based in Minsk.[1][2][3] In March 2022, Bernstein was detained by the Belarusian GUBOPiK security force, accused of violating a Russian fake news law in relation to his editing of Wikipedia articles on the topic of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4][1]

Youth and residence

As of 2009, Mark Bernstein lived in Minsk in Belarus.[2]

Wikipedia editor

From late 2009[2] to early 2022,[1] Bernstein was one of the 50 most active editors of the Russian-language Wikipedia, with over 200,000 edits.[1] He was commissioned by other encyclopedia publishers to write articles. He described his "best" achievement in Wikipedia in 2009 as his work on an article on censorship in the Soviet Union, in which he had cited about 250 sources. Bernstein advised new Wikipedia editors to first learn from the editing patterns of experienced Wikipedia editors, and to be prepared for working together with editors holding very different and often opposed viewpoints, which he saw as a key to the development of Wikipedia articles.[2]

2022 detention

When some editors of the Russian Wikipedia claimed that the name "Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022)" violates Wikipedia's policy to present information from a neutral point of view, Bernstein said, "Russian troops invaded the territory of Ukraine. It's just a fact, not a point of view".[5]

On 10 March 2022, a Russian propaganda online messaging forum on Telegram, Mrakoborets (lit. 'Auror', a Harry Potter reference), published private information about Bernstein and accused him of violating a new Russian law against publishing fake news. The forum claimed that Bernstein's editing of Wikipedia articles on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine violated the new law.[6][4]

On 11 March 2022, GUBOPiK, the Belarusian Main Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime and Corruption, detained Bernstein[1] in Minsk.[7] Pro-government Telegram channels published a video recording of Bernstein's detention and accused him of spreading fake "anti-Russian" information.[4][1] On 12 March 2022, he was sentenced to 15 days of arrest for "disobedience to a lawful order or demand of an official" (article 24.3 of the Administrative Code of Belarus).[8]

Reactions

International

On 11 March 2022, the Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, stated in response to an enquiry about Bernstein's detention that the Foundations' "Trust and Safety and Human Rights teams [were] monitoring the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and [were] in close touch with [Wikimedia] communities in the region to ensure their safety and respond to their needs."[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Song, Victoria (11 March 2022). "A top Wikipedia editor has been arrested in Belarus". The Verge. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Марк Бернштейн из топ-50 лучших русскоязычных авторов рассказал о своей викидеятельности" [Mark Bernstein of the top 50 Russian-language authors talks about his work]. Мир энциклопедий (in Russian). 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  3. ^ "В Минске задержан Марк Берштейн, друг и пропагандист Израиля". vesty (in Russian). 11 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "В Беларуси задержали Марка Бернштейна — активиста и популяризатора интернет-энциклопедии Wikipedia.org" [Mark Bernstein – an activist and populariser of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia – was detained in Belarus]. Zerkalo.io (in Russian). 11 March 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  5. ^ Harrison, Stephen (1 March 2022). "How the Russian Invasion of Ukraine Is Playing Out on English, Ukrainian, and Russian Wikipedia". Slate. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  6. ^ "В Беларуси задержали редактора "Википедии" Марка Бернштейна" [Wikipedia editor Mark Bernstein detained in Belarus] (in Russian). Current Time TV. 11 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Entrepreneur, Activist Mark Bernstein Detained In Minsk". Charter 97. 11 March 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 12 March 2022 suggested (help)
  8. ^ "Популяризатору интернет-энциклопедии Wikipedia Марку Берштейну дали 15 суток — за «неповиновение»". zerkalo.io. 12 March 2022. Archived from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
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