Putin Proposes ‘Reliable’ Russian Alternative to Wikipedia

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls for the replacement of online encyclopedia Wikipedia with a more ‘reliable’ national version.

Putin’s proposal follows the enforcement of a controversial law concerning the creation of an isolated internet network that can be disconnected from the rest of the world. The president also plans to create an independent Russian Domain Name System (DNS). With this law coming into effect, Russian authorities will gain control over which sites users can access.

"It's better to replace Wikipedia with the Big Russian new encyclopedia in electronic form...here it will be in any case, reliable information in a good modern form," said Putin. He goes on to assert that Russia carries a "tremendous responsibility for the preservation, development, and expansion of the Russian language and Russian literature."

In the years to come, the Russian government envisages to spend around 1.7 billion rubles to create a Russian online version of Wikipedia.