View source for Croatian Wikipedia

{{short description|Croatian-language edition of Wikipedia}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox website
| name             = {{Wiki favicon}} Croatian Wikipedia
| logo             = Wikipedia-logo-v2-hr.svg
| logo_size        = 135px
| screenshot       = Croatian Wikipedia screenshot.png
| collapsible      = yes
| collapsetext     = Screenshot
| caption          = Croatian Wikipedia's Main Page on 17 January 2021
| url              = {{Official URL}}
| alexa            =
| commercial       = No
| type             = [[Internet encyclopedia project]]
| language         = [[Croatian language|Croatian]]
| registration     = Optional
| owner            = [[Wikimedia Foundation]]
| author           =
| launch_date      = {{Start date and age|2003|2|16|df=yes}}
| current_status   =
| revenue          =
| content_license = {{nobr|[[Creative Commons licenses|Creative Commons Attribution/<br/>Share-Alike]] 4.0}} (most text also dual-licensed under [[GFDL]])<br/>Media licensing varies
}}
The '''Croatian Wikipedia''' ({{langx|hr|Wikipedija na hrvatskome jeziku}}) is the [[Croatian language]] version of [[Wikipedia]], the free [[encyclopedia]], started on 16 February 2003.<ref name="main">{{cite web |url=http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/ |title=Glavna stranica |access-date=2011-10-31 |work=[[Wikipedia]] |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |language=hr}}</ref> This version has {{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|hr|N}} articles and a total of {{Format price|{{NUMBEROF|EDITS|hr}}}} edits have been made. It has {{NUMBEROF|USERS|hr|N}} registered users, out of which {{NUMBEROF|ACTIVEUSERS|hr|N}} have been active in the last 30 days, and {{NUMBEROF|ADMINS|hr|N}} administrators. Throughout 2014, fewer than two dozen editors made more than 100 edits a month; around 150 made more than 5 edits a month.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wikipedia Statistics Croatian |url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesWikipediaHR.htm |access-date=2014-12-10 |work=stats.wikimedia.org |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]]}}</ref> {{As of|2024|july}}, there were about 135 editors making at least 5 edits a month.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Wikistats - Statistics For Wikimedia Projects |url=https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/hr.wikipedia.org/contributing/active-editors/normal%7Cline%7Call%7C(page_type)~content*non-content%7Cmonthly |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=stats.wikimedia.org}}</ref>

In the period from 2013 to 2021, the Croatian Wikipedia was caught in the spotlight for promoting [[Far-right politics in Croatia|far-right]] ideas, including anti-LGBT propaganda and [[anti-Serbian sentiment|bias]] against [[Serbs of Croatia]] by [[Holocaust revisionism]], particularly [[Denial of the genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|negating or whitewashing the atrocities]] of the [[Ustaše]] [[Independent State of Croatia|regime]].<ref name="denial news">
* {{cite news|work=[[Haaretz]]|url=https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/2021-08-04/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/these-nationalists-didnt-like-what-they-read-online-about-wwii-so-they-rewrote-it/0000017f-e937-da9b-a1ff-ed7fb23f0000|title=These Far-right Nationalists Didn’t Like What They Read Online About World War II – So They Rewrote History|date=August 4, 2021|access-date=October 17, 2024|quote=A recent probe by the online encyclopedia Wikipedia reveals major [[historical revisionism]] by [[Far-right politics in Croatia|far-right]] [[Far-right politics in Serbia|forces]] in its [[Croatian Wikipedia#Controversy about right-wing bias|Croatian]] and [[Serbian Wikipedia|Serbian]] versions. But it also exposes the dangerous overlap between [[nationalism]] and [[Disinformation attack|disinformation online]].}}
* {{cite news|work=Balkan Insights|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2018/03/26/how-croatian-wikipedia-made-a-concentration-camp-disappear-03-23-2018|title=How Croatian Wikipedia Made a Concentration Camp Disappear|date=March 26, 2018|access-date=October 17, 2024|quote=Unlike Wikipedia in other languages, the Croatian version refers to the WWII [[Jasenovac concentration camp]] as a "[[Euphemism|collection camp]]" - as well as playing down [[The Holocaust in the Independent State of Croatia|fascist crimes]] and ignoring right-wingers' controversies.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[University of Haifa#Academic journals|The Journal of Holocaust Research]] |last1=Grabowski |first1=Jan | last2=Klein |first2=Shira |author-link=Jan Grabowski |title=Wikipedia's Intentional Distortion of the History of the Holocaust |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25785648.2023.2168939 |pages=133–190 |doi=10.1080/25785648.2023.2168939 |issn=2578-5648 |date=February 9, 2023 |access-date=October 14, 2024 |quote=[...] a group of committed Wikipedia editors have been [[List of Wikipedia controversies#2023|promoting a skewed version of history]] [...] Wikipedia's articles on [[the Holocaust in Poland]] [...] insinuate that most Jews supported Communism and conspired with Communists to betray Poles (''{{lang|pl|Żydokomuna}}'' or [[Antisemitic trope#Propagation of Communism|Judeo–Bolshevism]]), [[Victim blaming#Examples|blame Jews for their own persecution]], and inflate Jewish collaboration with the Nazis [...] It would also behoove the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] to look into the wide-scale [[Distortion in the Holocaust|distortion]] on the English Wikipedia, as it did recently in the case of the Croatian Wikipedia.|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=[[The Forward]] |url=https://forward.com/opinion/550600/wikipedia-holocaust-disinformation |title=The shocking truth about Wikipedia's Holocaust disinformation |date=June 14, 2023 |access-date=October 15, 2024 |quote=To our dismay, we found dozens of examples of [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust distortion]] [...] advanced a [[Polish nationalism|Polish nationalist]] narrative [...] People who read these pages learned about [...] Jews supporting the communists to betray Poles. A handful of [[Holocaust denial|distortions]] have been corrected since our publication, but many remain [...] [[Wikimedia Foundation]] needs to intervene, as it has already done to stem [[disinformation]] in [[2021 Wikimedia Foundation actions on the Chinese Wikipedia|Chinese Wikipedia]], [[Arabic Wikipedia#Saudi Arabia|Saudi Wikipedia]] and Croatian Wikipedia, with excellent results. It must do so in English Wikipedia as well.}}
|{{cite news |work=[[Chapman University]] News |url=https://news.chapman.edu/2023/11/17/exposing-the-holocaust-lies-on-the-dark-side-of-wikipedia |title=Exposing the Holocaust Lies on the Dark Side of Wikipedia |date=November 17, 2023 |access-date=October 15, 2024}}</ref>

Apart from [[Whitewashing (censorship)|whitewashing]] the atrocities of [[World War II]] war criminals, the same has been done for contemporary Croatian politicians and public figures. Such [[Ideological bias on Wikipedia|falsified content]] on Croatian Wikipedia has been backed up by a wide range of dubious sources,<ref name="Dewey" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Što nas Wikipedia uči o medijskoj pismenosti: Kako su pali Daily Mail, Breitbart i InfoWars |url=https://faktograf.hr/2018/10/18/sto-nas-wikipedia-uci-o-medijskoj-pismenosti-kako-su-pali-daily-mail-breitbart-i-infowars/ |website=Faktograf.hr |date=18 October 2018 |language=hr}}</ref> all of which were condemned  by the [[Government of Croatia|Croatian government]], [[Mass media in Croatia|media]] and historians.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="index130903" />

Several editor accounts involved in those actions on Croatian Wikipedia throughout the 2010s were either banned or demoted in 2021, when it was found that one of the most active administrators took control of the site with [[:hr:Kategorija:Popis potvrđenih čarapaka (suradnik Kubura)|80 sockpuppet accounts]]. The process also exposed the [[Criticism of Wikipedia#Criticism of process|systemic issues of Wikipedia]] which have yet to be addressed.<ref name="rep" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Wikimedia bans admin of Wikipedia Croatia for pushing radical right agendas |url=https://therecord.media/wikimedia-bans-admin-of-wikipedia-croatia-for-pushing-radical-right-agendas |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=therecord.media}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Krnić |first=Lovro |title=Početak kraja Endehapedije |url=https://www.portalnovosti.com/pocetak-kraja-endehapedije |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Portal Novosti}}</ref>

== 2011 reliability analysis ==
In a study by Kubelka and Šoštarić from 2011, the reliability of the Croatian Wikipedia was compared to the ''[[Croatian Encyclopedia]]'' – the Croatian national encyclopedia.{{sfn|Kubelka|Šoštarić|2013}} Twenty-four reviewers, experts in specific fields, analyzed a representative selection of articles according to the parameters of informativeness, accuracy of presented information, sufficiency, direction and objectivity. Articles were analyzed in 11 thematic categories: arts and culture; history and biographies; medicine and health; technology and applied science; geography; religion; science; mathematics and logic; philosophy; sport and society; and social sciences. Articles were sorted into categories using [[machine learning]] techniques, and feature weight statistics were calculated using [[tf–idf]]. A total of 500 articles in 250 pairs were randomly chosen and sorted into categories to serve as [[representative sample]]s.{{sfn|Kubelka|Šoštarić|2013|p=124-125}}

In both samples, facts were manually enumerated – 3015 from the ''Croatian Encyclopedia'' and 3315 from Croatian Wikipedia. Comparison for factual accuracy showed that for every error in the ''Croatian Encyclopedia'', 2.25 errors were found in Croatian Wikipedia.{{sfn|Kubelka|Šoštarić|2013|p=127}} Analysis by individual categories showed that most errors in Croatian Wikipedia were in the philosophy category, where on average two errors in ten articles were found. The only category where the ''Croatian Encyclopedia'' had more errors was natural sciences, where the ratio was 1.25:0.75 in favor of Croatian Wikipedia.{{sfn|Kubelka|Šoštarić|2013|p=128}} Of those factual errors, the ratio was 21:12 for major errors, and 34:23 for minor errors. The overall ratio for minor factual errors was thus lower, the only exception being the society and social sciences category, where the minor error ratio was 3:1.

The reliability analysis for Croatian Wikipedia indicated that 74% of articles were error-free, and 11% had minor errors. Major factual errors were found in 5% of articles, while 4% of articles had both major and minor errors. Overall 85% of articles were deemed "satisfactory" (error-free and containing minor errors), while in comparison 92% of articles in the ''Croatian Encyclopedia'' achieved the same rating.{{sfn|Kubelka|Šoštarić|2013|p=129}} Forty percent of articles in Croatian Wikipedia were assessed as sufficiently informative, as opposed to sixty-two percent of articles in the ''Croatian Encyclopedia''. Sixteen percent of Croatian Wikipedia articles were assessed as "insufficiently informative", as opposed to five percent of articles from the ''Croatian Encyclopedia''.{{sfn|Kubelka|Šoštarić|2013|p=130}} The criterion of objectivity measured the neutral point of view in articles; 91% of Croatian Wikipedia articles were assessed as being neutral, as opposed to 98% in the ''Croatian Encyclopedia''. Two percent of Croatian Wikipedia articles were assessed as non-neutral, as opposed to zero in the ''Croatian Encyclopedia''.{{sfn|Kubelka|Šoštarić|2013|p=130}} According to their subjective preference, reviewers chose 53% of articles in the ''Croatian Encyclopedia'' as their preferred article version, while only 19.5% of Wikipedia articles were preferred, with 27% of articles being assessed as equal in quality.{{sfn|Kubelka|Šoštarić|2013|p=131}}

== Controversy about right-wing bias ==
{{see also|Far-right politics in Croatia}}

=== Media reports about bias ===

[[File:HrWiki Jutarnji refutation notice 2013-09-14.jpg|thumb|Croatian Wikipedia sitenotice that translates to "official and public refutation of [[yellow journalism]] by ''[[Jutarnji list]]''"]]
In September 2013, complaints about [[right-wing]] bias of administrators and editors on the Croatian Wikipedia began to receive attention from the media, following the launch of a [[Facebook page]] titled ''Razotkrivanje sramotne hr.wikipedije'' ({{Transliteration|hr|''Exposing the disgraceful Croatian Wikipedia''}}) which was created with the intent of bringing attention to the issue. According to Jurica Pavičić, a professor at the [[University of Split]] and ''[[Jutarnji list]]'' columnist, the gradual takeover of the Croatian Wikipedia was started in 2009 by "a small group of conservative administrators" who blocked editors for having "liberal-to-moderate views on controversial topics".<ref name="dailydot">{{cite web |url=https://www.dailydot.com/politics/croatian-wikipedia-fascist-takeover-controversy-right-wing |title=How pro-fascist ideologues are rewriting Croatia's history |last=Sampson |first=Tim |work=dailydot.com |access-date=July 1, 2015 |date=October 1, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Dewey">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/08/04/mens-rights-activists-think-a-hateful-feminist-conspiracy-is-ruining-wikipedia/ |title=Men's rights activists think a "hateful" feminist conspiracy is ruining Wikipedia |last=Dewey |first=Caitlin |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=8 April 2020 |date=4 August 2014}}</ref> Reported examples of bias include [[historical negationism]] such as watering-down and denial of the crimes committed by the [[Ustaše]] regime, and equating [[anti-fascism]] with forms of [[totalitarianism]].<ref name="inserbia">{{cite web |url=http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/fascist-movement-takes-over-croatian-wikipedia/ |title=Fascist movement takes over Croatian Wikipedia? |publisher=InSerbia News |access-date=13 September 2013 |archive-date=29 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929160901/http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/fascist-movement-takes-over-croatian-wikipedia/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other issues included the bias against [[Serbs of Croatia]] and the [[LGBT]] population.<ref name="gaystarnews">[http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/trolls-hijack-wikipedia-turn-articles-against-gays170913 Trolls hijack Wikipedia to turn articles against gays] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708223852/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/trolls-hijack-wikipedia-turn-articles-against-gays170913/ |date=2018-07-08 }}, ''Gay Star News''</ref><ref>[https://www.crol.hr/portal/aktivizam-politika/ljudi/4840-tko-prepravlja-lgbt-hrvatsku-na-wikipediji.html Tko prepravlja LGBT Hrvatsku na Wikipediji?]</ref> Editors who tried to remove the biased sections were reportedly being harassed by administrators and quickly received permanent blocks under various pretexts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tportal.hr/scitech/znanost/285495/Kako-je-hrvatsku-Wikipediju-uzurpirala-ustasoidna-desnica.html |title=Kako je hrvatsku Wikipediju uzurpirala ustašoidna desnica |date=11 September 2013 |work=Tportal |trans-title=How did pro-Ustasha right-wing editors take Croatian Wikipedia |access-date=11 September 2013 |language=hr}}</ref> The issue was reported by Croatia's daily ''Jutarnji list'' and even made its print edition's front page on 11 September 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/radikalni-desnicari-preuzeli-uredivanje-hr-wikipedije--ndh-nije-svjesno-bila-totalitarna--a-antifasizam-se-bori-protiv-svih-sloboda-/1125398/ |title=Desničari preuzeli uređivanje hrvatske Wikipedije |work=[[Jutarnji list]] |date=10 September 2013 |trans-title=Right-wing editors took over the Croatian Wikipedia |access-date=11 September 2013 |language=hr |archive-date=25 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325014957/http://www.jutarnji.hr/radikalni-desnicari-preuzeli-uredivanje-hr-wikipedije--ndh-nije-svjesno-bila-totalitarna--a-antifasizam-se-bori-protiv-svih-sloboda-/1125398/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Government reaction ===
Two days later, Croatia's Minister of Science, Education and Sports, [[Željko Jovanović (politician)|Željko Jovanović]], called for pupils and students in Croatia to avoid using the Croatian Wikipedia.<ref name="novi">{{cite web |url=http://www.novilist.hr/Vijesti/Hrvatska/Jovanovic-Djeco-ne-baratajte-hrvatskom-Wikipedijom-jer-su-sadrzaji-falsificirani |title=Jovanović: Djeco, ne baratajte hrvatskom Wikipedijom jer su sadržaji falsificirani |work=[[Novi list]] |date=13 September 2013 |trans-title=Jovanović: "Children, do not use the Croatian Wikipedia because its contents are forgeries" |access-date=13 September 2013 |language=hr}}</ref> In an interview given to ''[[Novi list]]'', Jovanović said that:<ref name="novi" /><blockquote>the idea of openness and relevance as a knowledge source that Wikipedia could and should represent has been completely discredited – which, for certain, has never been the goal of Wikipedia's creators nor the huge number of people around the world who share their knowledge and time using that medium. Croatian pupils and students have been wronged by this, so we have to warn them, unfortunately, that a large part of the content of the Croatian version of Wikipedia is not only dubious but also [contains] obvious forgeries, and therefore we invite them to use more reliable sources of information, which include [[Wikipedia in English]] and in other major languages of the world.</blockquote>Jovanović also commented on the Croatian Wikipedia editors – calling them a "minority group that has usurped the right to edit the Croatian-language Wikipedia".<ref name="novi" /> Wikipedia's co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]] said that complaints about the bias of the Croatian Wikipedia were "nothing new", but that Jovanović's denunciation was alarming. Wales also reiterated his opinion that the existence of separate Croatian and [[Serbian Wikipedia]]s is wrong, as they "in fact use the same language".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Penić |first1=Goran |date=14 September 2013 |title=Osnivač Wikipedije govori za Nedjeljni: 'Srbi i Hrvati ne smiju imati odvojene Wikipedije' |trans-title=Wikipedia Founder Talks to Sunday News: 'Serbs and Croats must not have separate Wikipedias' |url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/osnivac-wikipedije-govori-za-nedjeljni-srbi-i-hrvati-ne-smiju-imati-odvojene-wikipedije/1069487/ |access-date=8 April 2020 |work=[[Jutarnji list]] |language=hr |quote=Wales je u raspravi iznio zanimljiv, ali i kontroverzan stav oko hrvatske i srpske Wikipedije. On se, kaže, oduvijek zalagao da na području Balkana ne trebaju postojati dvije odvojene Wikipedije, srpska i hrvatska, jer da je zapravo riječ o istom jeziku, samo drugačijem pismu. |trans-quote=During the argument, Wales made an interesting, but controversial point about the Croatian and Serbian Wikipedias. He says he has always supported the idea of not having two separate Wikipedias, a Serbian and a Croatian one, in the Balkans region, as they in fact use the same language, albeit with different scripts.}}</ref>

=== Interviews with historians ===
In 2013, in an interview given to [[Index.hr]], Robert Kurelić, a professor of history at the [[Juraj Dobrila University of Pula]], commented that "the Croatian Wikipedia is only a tool used by its administrators to promote their own political agendas, giving false and distorted facts".<ref name="index130903">{{cite news |url=https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/jovanoviceva-poruka-ucenicima-i-studentima-ne-koristite-hrvatsku-wikipediju/700302.aspx |title=Jovanovićeva poruka učenicima i studentima: Ne koristite hrvatsku Wikipediju! |work=[[Index.hr]] |trans-title=Jovanović's message to pupils and students: Don't use Croatian Wikipedia! |date=13 September 2013 |access-date=13 September 2013 |language=hr}}</ref> Some examples he listed include the Croatian Wikipedia's coverage of the term {{lang|hr|Istrijanstvo}} ([[Istrian identity]]), defined as a "movement fabricated to reduce the number of Croats", and {{lang|hr|antifašizam}} ([[anti-fascism]]), which according to him was defined as the opposite of what it really means. Kurelić further advised,<ref name="index130903" />

{{Blockquote|text=that it would be good if a larger number of people got engaged and started writing on Wikipedia [...] administrators want to exploit high-school and university students, the most common users of Wikipedia, to change their opinions and attitudes, which presents a serious issue.}}

Also in 2013, Snježana Koren, a historian at the [[Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb]], judged the disputed articles as "biased and malicious, partly even illiterate", in an interview with Croatian news agency [[HINA]].<ref name="Koren150913" /> She further added that "These are the types of articles you can find on the pages of fringe organizations and movements, but there should be no place for that on Wikipedia", expressing doubts on the ability of its authors to distinguish good from evil.<ref name="Koren150913" /> Koren concluded that the ulterior motive of such writings was to rehabilitate the [[Independent State of Croatia]], a [[puppet state]] of [[Nazi Germany]], and that "there is no other way to characterize such efforts than as [[Ustaše|Ustaše movement]]".<ref name="Koren150913">{{cite news |url=http://www.novilist.hr/Vijesti/Hrvatska/Hr.wikipedija-pod-povecalom-zbog-falsificiranja-hrvatske-povijesti |title=Hr.wikipedija pod povećalom zbog falsificiranja hrvatske povijesti |work=[[Novi list]] |trans-title=Croatian Wikipedia under scrutiny for fabricating Croatian history |agency=[[HINA]] |date=15 September 2013 |access-date=15 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221045040/http://www.novilist.hr/Vijesti/Hrvatska/Hr.wikipedija-pod-povecalom-zbog-falsificiranja-hrvatske-povijesti |archive-date=2013-12-21 |url-status=dead |language=hr}}</ref>

The Croatian Wikipedia page on the [[Jasenovac concentration camp]] was regarded as a prime example of its [[historical negationism]] and [[Holocaust denial|distortions]].<ref>{{cite web |website=[[International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance]] (IHRA) |url=https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definition-holocaust-denial-distortion |title=Working Definition of Holocaust Denial and Distortion |access-date=October 17, 2024}} Distortion of the Holocaust refers, ''inter alia'', to:<br>{{columns-list |colwidth=35em |
*Intentional efforts to excuse or minimize the [[The Holocaust#Aftermath and legacy|impact of the Holocaust]] or its principal elements, including [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaborators and allies of Nazi Germany]]
* Gross minimization of the number of the victims of the Holocaust in contradiction to reliable sources
* Attempts to [[Victim blaming#Examples|blame the Jews for causing their own genocide]]
* Statements that cast the Holocaust as a positive historical event. Those statements are not Holocaust denial but are closely connected to it as a [[Antisemitism#Contemporary antisemitism|radical form of antisemitism]]. They may suggest that the Holocaust did not go far enough in accomplishing its goal of "the [[Final Solution]] of the Jewish Question"
* Attempts to [[Whitewashing (politics)|blur the responsibility]] for the establishment of [[List of Nazi concentration camps|concentration and death camps devised and operated by Nazi Germany]] by putting blame on other nations or ethnic groups}}</ref> The Croatian version of the page referred to the WWII Jasenovac concentration camp as a "collection camp" and labour camp, downplayed the crimes committed there as well as the number of victims, and relied on "right-wing media and private blogs" for "a large number" of its references.<ref name="denial news" /> [[Hrvoje Klasić]], also a historian at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, stated to the [[Balkan Insight|Balkan Investigative Reporting Network]] in 2018 that "although Jasenovac was in part a labour camp, referring to it as that alone is misleading", arguing that "referring to Jasenovac as simply a collection and labour camp is to use 'the same language' as Ustasa propaganda", and also added that "a number of articles and topics are done in a completely revisionist manner [on the Croatian Wikipedia], with highly emphasised nationalist and, I would dare to say, pro-Ustasa sentiment".<ref name="denial news" /><ref>
* {{cite web |website=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/wikipedia-state-sponsored-disinformation |title=The Hunt for Wikipedia's Disinformation Moles |date=October 17, 2022 |access-date=October 17, 2024 |quote=Wikipedia has been battling [[List of Wikipedia controversies|inaccuracies and false information for 21 years]]. One of the most long-running disinformation attempts went on for more than a decade after a group of [[Far-right politics in Croatia|ultra-nationalists]] [[Wikipedia:Gaming the system|gamed Wikipedia's administrator rules]] to take over the Croatian-language community, rewriting history to rehabilitate World War II [[Ustaše|fascist leaders]] of the [[Independent State of Croatia|country]].}}
* {{cite web |website=[[AIJAC|Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council]] |url=https://aijac.org.au/australia-israel-review/essay-wikipedias-jewish-problem |title=Essay: Wikipedia's Jewish Problem |first=Izabella |last=Tabarovsky |date=August 14, 2024 |access-date=October 17, 2024 |quote=Last year two historians published a bombshell paper demonstrating how a group [...] systematically [[Distortion in the Holocaust|distorting]] [[History of the Jews in Poland|Polish Jewish history]] across multiple Wikipedia articles to align it with far-right Polish nationalist preferences. Working in concert, the group falsified evidence, promoted marginal self-published sources, created fake references, and advanced antisemitic stereotypes [...] Another case involved Croatian-language Wikipedia. There, a right-wing group [...] whitewash the history of World War II-era Croatian fascist organisation [[Ustaše]], its Nazi puppet [[Independent State of Croatia]] (NDH), and the [[Jasenovac concentration camp|Jasenovac extermination camp]].}}</ref>

=== Disinformation assessment by Wikimedia Foundation ===
[[File:Croatian WP Disinformation Assessment - Final Report EN.pdf|thumb|right|185x185px|The final assessment, June 2021<ref name="rep">{{cite web |title=Croatian Wikipedia Disinformation Assessment-2021 – Meta |url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Wikipedia_Disinformation_Assessment-2021 |access-date=2021-06-14 |website=Meta Wikimedia |language=en |quote=Many articles created and edited by the members of this group present the views that match political and socio-cultural positions advocated by a loosely connected group of [[Far-right politics in Croatia|Croatian radical right political parties and ultra-conservative populist movements]]. The group has been [[Wikipedia:Gaming the system|using its positions of power]] to attract new like-minded contributors, silence and ban dissenters, manipulate community elections and subvert Wikipedia's and the broader movement's native conflict resolution mechanisms.}}</ref>]]
In 2021, the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] posted a job ad for a [[disinformation]] evaluator position, with the aim to further examine disputed content on the Croatian Wikipedia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wikipedija u obračunu s dezinformacijama na hrvatskom: Objavili oglas za novo radno mjesto |url=https://www.tportal.hr/tehno/clanak/wikipedija-u-obracunu-s-dezinformacijama-na-hrvatskom-objavili-oglas-za-novo-radno-mjesto-20210113 |access-date=2021-01-31 |website=tportal.hr |language=hr}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=October 2024|reason=English translation and English secondary resources needed}} In March 2021, a number of changes were made to remove administrative access from a group of editors considered responsible for the entire affair,{{Explain|reason=What exact actions were taken? How many admins were de-adminned or banned? Did this have a positive effect? There's a lot of text in this article talking about the problem, and not much talking about the fix and aftermath.|date=February 2023}} some of whom had their names published in Croatian media.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/hrvatska-wikipedija-konacno-prestaje-biti-ustasko-ruglo/2262043.aspx |title=Hrvatska Wikipedija konačno prestaje biti ustaško ruglo |first=Nenad |last=Jarić Dauenahuer |date=23 March 2021 |access-date=10 July 2021 |work=[[Index.hr]] |language=hr}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=October 2024|reason=English translation and secondary English sources needed}} One of these was exposed to be a known far-right web portal editor, who passed off his self-published materials as "reliable sources" on the Croatian Wikipedia.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.portalnovosti.com/pocetak-kraja-endehapedije |date=16 March 2021 |access-date=10 July 2021 |first=Lovro |last=Krnić |title=Početak kraja Endehapedije |newspaper=[[Novosti (Croatia)|Novosti]] |language=hr}}</ref> In April 2021, an article was published by the [[Western Balkans]] edition of [[Radio Free Europe]] stating how the situation of the Croatian-language Wikipedia has finally changed and that the correction of problematic articles was in progress.<ref name="RSE">{{Cite news |last=Zebić |first=Enis |date=6 April 2021 |url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/demontaža-revizionističkih-sadržaja-u-hrvatskoj-wikipediji/31189567.html |title=Demontaža revizionističkih sadržaja u hrvatskoj Wikipediji |trans-title=The dismantling of revisionist content on Croatian Wikipedia |publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |website=slobodnaevropa.org |access-date=27 July 2024 |language=sh}}</ref> Editing activity picked up from 2020 through early 2022, with over 200 editors making at least 5 edits a month. {{As of|2024|july}}, there were about 135 editors making at least 5 edits a month.<ref name=":1" />

In June 2021, Wikimedia published its Croatian Wikipedia Disinformation Assessment. It concluded that "A group of Croatian language Wikipedia (Hr.WP) admins held undue ''de facto'' control over the project at least from 2011 to 2020.<ref name="rep" /> During that time, the group intentionally distorted the content presented in Croatian language Wikipedia articles in a way that matched the narratives of political organisations and groups that can broadly be defined as the Croatian radical right."<ref name="rep" /> According to the assessment, the administrators had abused their power to ban dissidents and selectively enforced and broke rules, resulting in project capture.<ref name="rep" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}
* {{citation |title=Wikipedija nasuprot Hrvatskoj enciklopediji, kvalitativan odnos slobodno i tradicionalno uređenoga enciklopedijskoga sadržaja na hrvatskom jeziku |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/114405 |trans-title=Wikipedia opposite the Croatian Encyclopedia, a qualitative relation between a freely and a traditionally edited encyclopedic text in Croatian |last1=Kubelka |first1=Ozren |first2=Petra |last2=Šoštarić |type=PDF |journal=Studia lexicographica |pages=119–133 |access-date=July 20, 2018 |publisher=[[Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute]] |year=2013 |location=Zagreb |volume=9 |language=hr}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web |title=Hrvati koji pišu najveću svjetsku enciklopediju |date=18 February 2007 |url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/arhiva/hrvati-koji-pisu-najvecu-svjetsku-enciklopediju/3844059/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021172446/http://www.jutarnji.hr/hrvati-koji-pisu-najvecu-svjetsku-enciklopediju/213584/ |archive-date=2012-10-21 |work=[[Jutarnji list]] |url-status=live |language=hr}}
* {{cite web |url=https://arhiva.nacional.hr/clanak/22032/hrvatski-junaci-wikipedije |title=Hrvatski junaci Wikipedije |work=[[Nacional (weekly)|Nacional]] |trans-title=Croatian heroes of Wikipedia |last1=Simić |first1=Tanja |date=12 December 2005 |access-date=7 July 2012 |archive-date=13 June 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613170653/http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/22032/hrvatski-junaci-wikipedije |language=hr}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website|http://hr.wikipedia.org}} {{in lang|hr}}

{{Wikipedias}}

[[Category:Wikipedias in Slavic languages]]
[[Category:Croatian online encyclopedias|Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2003]]
[[Category:Croatian-language websites]]
[[Category:Wikipedia controversies]]
[[Category:Historical negationism]]
[[Category:Croatian encyclopedias]]