Wikipedia

Ruwiki (Wikipedia fork)

Ruwiki (Russian: Рувики, romanized: Ruviki) is a Russian online encyclopedia.[1] It was launched in July 2023 as a fork of the Russian Wikipedia,[1] and has been described by some media groups as "Putin-friendly" and "Kremlin-compliant".[2][3] A full-scale launch took place on 15 January 2024.[4]

Ruwiki
Main page of the Russian Ruwiki
Native name
АНО «интернет-энциклопедия «Рувики»
Type of site
Online encyclopedia
Available inMultilingual
Predecessor(s)Russian Wikipedia
Country of originRussia
OwnerANO "Ruwiki Internet Encyclopedia"
Founder(s)Vladimir Medeyko
URLruwiki.ru
CommercialNo
RegistrationOptional
Launched15 January 2024
Content license
Creative Commons Public License Attribution-Shared Terms 4.0 International

The project is led by Vladimir Medeyko, who was formerly involved with the Russian Wikipedia project and a director of Wikimedia Russia.[1][5] Medeyko reportedly created the project as an alternative to the Russian Wikipedia that is more friendly to the Russian government.[3]

The words "рувики" and its English version, "ruwiki", have long been used to refer to Russian Wikipedia among Wikipedians.[6]

History edit

 
Medeyko in 2021

On 24 May 2023, long-time Wikimedia Russia director Vladimir Medeyko announced Ruwiki as a Russian fork of Wikipedia on the Russian technology website Habr.[7] The Russian politician Anton Gorelkin stated that the new "ruviki" website would be hosted on Russian servers and managed by a Russian organization.[8] Medeyko has stated that Ruwiki will follow Russian laws, but is independent of the Russian government.[3]

Russian Wikipedia contributors were shocked that Medeyko left the project he had been involved in since 2003, and were even more stunned when he said that his reason for leaving was to create a competitor to Wikipedia for the benefit of the government of Russia. The project's name, Ruwiki, is widely used by contributors to Russian Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation projects to refer to Russian Wikipedia itself, which has drawn criticism from Wikipedians.

In late May 2023, Stanislav Kozlovsky, then executive director of Wikimedia RU, stated that "anyone can take Wikipedia content and use it, it's perfectly normal. It's not normal to use the authority of the director of Wikimedia RU for this purpose and to do it in secret for several years".

On August 21, 2023, without further announcement, user registration was opened for everyone on Ruwiki.[9]

At the end of November 2023, five new editions of Ruwiki were added: Bashkir, Mari, Sakha, Tatar and Chechen.[10]

In December 2023, Ruwiki signed a long-term cooperation agreement with the Museum of Moscow.[11]

On December 28, 2023, six new editions of Ruwiki were added: Altai, Tuvan, Mokshan, Udmurt, Chuvash and Erzyan.[12]

In April 2024, Ruwiki launched new editions in Buryat, Veps, Ingush, Kalmyk, Komi, Permian Komi, Livvian-Karelian and Khakas languages with a total number of articles in the new sections exceeding 29 thousand, the website interface was improved and portals with materials for preparation for the Unified State Exam and Basic State Exam were launched.[13]

Content and editorial policy edit

Ruwiki was created by copying all 1.9 million articles from the Russian Wikipedia, as well as several media components from Wikimedia Commons,[14] and data items from Wikidata. However, articles containing content contrary to the Russian government's official line have been removed.[1][3] Removals of content considered "anti-Russian propaganda" include coverage of the Russo-Ukraine War, the Wagner rebellion, and criticism of Vladimir Putin.[2]

In mid-July 2023, Ruwiki was not yet editable by third parties. Medeyko had stated that he plans to allow public editing to resume, but that content will be vetted by panels of experts.[3] As of August 2023, Ruwiki was available to edit by all registered accounts.[15]

Finances edit

There is no reliable data on the source of funding for Ruwiki.[16] Vladimir Medeyko reports the presence of private investors, but does not disclose them, indicating that there is a corresponding agreement with investors.[17] According to Vladimir Medeyko, the project receives money from wealthy investors with whom he is pleased to cooperate, who understand Ruwiki's tasks and share the project's goals. Edits made by several administrators in the article about Naila Asker-Zadeh, as well as some other facts indicate, in the opinion of the Wikivoyage creators, a possible connection between Ruwiki and VTB Bank.[18] The money was presumably allocated with the expectation of the future commercial success of the project: if the site becomes popular, it will be possible to earn money through ads. Vladimir Medeyko notes that investors expect to make a profit, but they are very interested in what is realized in Ruwiki - free content, access to knowledge for everyone.[19]

Public launch edit

In January 2024, it was reported that Ruwiki would enter full public service on Monday, 15 January.[20] Ruwiki confirmed the statements shortly thereafter, announcing the "end of beta testing on January 15, 2024".[21]

Similar projects edit

There were other Russian encyclopedic projects advertised as an alternative to Wikipedia: an online portal to Great Russian Encyclopedia[22] and a wiki (Znanie.wiki) by the Znanie Society [ru] ("Knowledge Society"), inherited from the Soviet times.[23]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Corfield, Gareth (12 July 2023). "Russia launches Wikipedia rival in new censorship crackdown". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b Jankowicz, Mia. "Russia has launched its own version of Wikipedia, called Ruwiki, which is notably more sympathetic to Putin". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Cohen, Noam (12 July 2023). "Russian Wikipedia's Top Editor Leaves to Launch a Putin-Friendly Clone". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Russian version of Wikipedia to launch Monday, reports say". Reuters. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Wikipedia Russia, Other Sites Protest Proposed Internet 'censorship' Law". PCWorld. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  6. ^ Переписать «Википедию»: что думают администраторы свободной энциклопедии о проекте Рувики?, SOTA, June 29, 2023
  7. ^ "Запуск проекта Рувики". Хабр (in Russian). 24 May 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Resource "Ruviki" will become a new analogue of "Wikipedia" in Russia". Orient. 24 May 2023. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Википедия «Рувики» стала доступна в режиме свободного редактирования". www.encyclopedia.ru. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  10. ^ "«Рувики» запустила разделы на языках народов России". TASS (in Russian).
  11. ^ "В Москве запустят серию проектов об истории столицы - Газета.Ru | Новости". Газета.Ru (in Russian). 31 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Открываются первые языковые разделы «Рувики» на языках народов России". www.encyclopedia.ru. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  13. ^ "В «Рувики» добавили материалы для подготовки к ЕГЭ и ОГЭ".
  14. ^ "Заглавная страница". РУВИКИ.Медиа (in Russian). 17 May 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Россиянам разрешили редактировать отечественный аналог «Википедии»". Rambler.ru (in Russian). 21 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  16. ^ ""Бумага». Это «Рувики» — идеологически верный аналог «Википедии"". 28 August 2023.
  17. ^ "Мы еще подумаем, какую статью вам предъявить. Создатель российского аналога «Википедии» Владимир Медейко — об убийствах в Буче и других темах, которых в отечественной версии пока нет". Новая газета Европа. 24 July 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Несвободная энциклопедия. Как в российском аналоге «Википедии» переписали главные события путинской эпохи". vot-tak.tv (in Russian). Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  19. ^ "Russia invests in a homemade Wikipedia, in the hope of blocking the original". The Bell. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  20. ^ Bureau, BW Online. "Russia To Launch Its Version Of Wikipedia Called 'Ruwiki': Reports". BW Businessworld. Retrieved 15 January 2024.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ "Рувики: Новая интернет-энциклопедия". РУВИКИ (in Russian). 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024. [RUVIKI announces the end of beta testing on January 15, 2024. Technology updates will be introduced throughout 2024.]
  22. ^ Российский аналог "Википедии" обойдется бюджету РФ почти в 2 млрд рублей
  23. ^ Помощник Путина предложил скопировать Википедию ("Putin's assistant suggested copying Wikipedia")

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ruwiki (website).
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