TIL in Saudi Arabia, a Wikipedia editor has been sentenced to 32 years of imprisonment just because of editing Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_imprisoned_for_editing_WikipediaOpen linkView original on lemmy.sdf.orgSyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on lemmy.sdf.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_imprisoned_for_editing_WikipediaOpen linkView original on lemmy.sdf.org
35 replies
As a past victim of GBoard I will not pile on to OP for their glaring typo. Instead, here's the quote from the Wikipedia article linked above
Countries thinking they can control the influence of the internet is just so fucking frustrating. Hopefully the US doesn't get the same idea.
I have bad news for you
Just the other day i was on a Canadian gov website looking for information and they linked to american research and the links where dead because the US took down the webpages
There's a lesson for us Canadians in here somewhere, I can't quite put my finger on it...
Make archives of any important links you intend to reference, because you can't assume the link will be valid tomorrow?
That's a good start.
:(
Don't worry, I'm sure the Supreme Court will strike it down once it starts getting abused.
/shere....think you dropped thisShit.
Fixed it. I am using GBoard, though I don't know if it was me or the keyboard. Thanks for the quote and being nice.
Lol, been there
What keyboard would you recommend on android?
I've been using Gboard for a while but I've been slowly switching away from Google services (now on Organic Maps, switching away from Google Drive after backing everything up)
Unfortunately I don't have a recommendation.
I tried Heliboard but it just didn't do it for me
Ah fair enough, I tried other boards that were kinda the same for me so I know the feeling
FWIW the person appearing on the thumbnail is Bassel Khartabil Safadi, a Palestinian Syrian who for all intents and purposes was just an ordinary guy who wished for democracy in his country. A husband, open source advocate, and a friend. And someone who found himself in the extraordinary situation of being kidnapped by Assad’s security apparatus during the uprising of 2011, imprisoned, and eventually executed by the regime. Just because he advocated for freedom and democracy. As we think of the plight of the Palestinian people today and the unequal fight fought by everyone who dares speak out against the autocratic regimes of the Middle East, let’s take a moment to remember him and all those who the powers that be are keen to label terrorists and a threat to national security, many of whom are people like you and me who had the misfortune to live under regimes with virtually no respect for human rights. May he rest in peace and may the people of the Middle East, be it Muslims, Jews, atheists, or Christians, rise up and demand a life of freedom, solidarity, human rights, and dignity.
Saudi Arabia
Osama Khalid (أسامة خالد), a Saudi Arabian former administrator of the Arabic Wikipedia, was sentenced to five years imprisonment in September 2020 for "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country." Khalid's sentence was increased to 32 years in September 2022 as part of a campaign to lengthen the sentences of political detainees, according to Democracy for the Arab World Now and SMEX, a Lebanese non-governmental organization.
Ziyad al-Sofiani (زياد السفياني), also a former administrator of the Arabic Wikipedia, was likewise charged with "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country." He was sentenced in September 2020 to eight years in prison and was released in March 2025.
Arania
OP: You can edit titles on Lemmy
Done. Thanks.
Tried to do a Google search to see if such a place exists. Yeah they need to fix the title
How were they caught? Did Wikipedia reveal user data to the authorities when prompted?
Your IP address is shown publicly when you make edits on Wikipedia
What benefit is there for that to be publicly viewable?
Probably helps to stop vandalism of pages.
How so? Wouldn't that only be relevant for the admin/moderator? I'm specifically wondering why it's publicly viewable.
Banning bad actors ip's. Or more horrifically, this.
Wouldn't that only be relevant for an admin/moderator? Why does it need to be publicly viewable?
Took a two month nap?
It's important for it to be public, otherwise bad actors can far too easily destroy the entire platform. Wikipedia is too big, and smart to privatize editors. While it sucks really bad that this happened to this poor guy, the alternative could doom Wikipedia.
The real evil here is Saudi Arabia (they are the ones that pursued him correct? It's been a few months I forgot.)
Edit: it was, he was an admin of Saudi Arabia Wikipedia, and they blamed him for some bs. There was no hiding his editing regardless, he was the administrator sadly. Blame the country.
Okay, but, again, why does it need to be public? What use is there for the IP to be publicly visible to anyone except the moderators/admins? What can an average user do with that information in the context of editing/improving the content on Wikipedia?
I'm not sure that's a "benefit"…
probably, they are cunts
They should’ve sentenced you for that typo.