The Dirty Underbelly of Wikipedia

Once again, Wikipedia has become embroiled in a new scandal,
this time in Russia. The platform has once more been exposed
for engaging in paid smear campaigns against public figures.
I have previously reported on the case of Dr. Vernon
Coleman, who was extorted by anonymous Wikipedia moderators
demanding money in exchange for removing conspiracy theories
and offensive content about him. However, it appears that
the problem is much broader and of a global nature. I came
across this news quite by chance, but it is significant
enough to warrant attention (https://shorten.ly/soVqN0).
Russian pop star Larisa Dolina has fallen victim to a similar
smear campaign as Dr. Coleman. The situation involves her
being robbed by fraudsters during a real estate transaction,
which was officially terminated by a court in 2024. Yet, a year
later, due to Dolina's conservative views, she became the target
of online harassment. The main source of this false information
is a page on Russian Wikipedia titled "The Dolina Effect"
(https://shorten.ly/MYKD). This is despite an official court
ruling recognizing the singer as the injured party
(https://shorten.ly/8z5EN).
According to anonymous commentators, Dolina is required
to pay the deceived buyers the amount spent on the property,
even though the court has officially acknowledged her as the
victim. The fraudsters themselves were convicted and placed
in custody. Nevertheless, the scandal involving the pop
singer's harassment and extortions has attracted coverage
in many international media outlets. The reason is that the
creators of the Dolina Wikipedia page are extorting money
from her producers (https://shorten.ly/hWEu) for removing
false information about her. This is not the first, nor will
it be the last, case where Wikipedia becomes a safe platform
for defamation and extortion of public figures. I believe
that ultimately, someone will be held accountable for this.
We will continue to monitor the developments and be
skeptical of the corrupted nature of Wikipedia.