The
New York Times is reporting that
Wikipedia is getting flak -- in the form of angry emails and a 80,000-signature petition -- over
its entry on the life and times of Muhammad. The website contains several images of the face of Muhammad taken from ancient Persian manuscripts -- images created centuries ago by Persian Muslims -- which the protesters claim violate Islam's prohibition on displaying images of Muhammad. Wikipedia has responded that "[s]ince Wikipedia is an encyclopedia with the goal of representing all
topics from a neutral point of view, Wikipedia is not censored for the
benefit of any particular group." To that end, they've locked the article for the time being, preventing any edits -- including those that would censor the images.
Harvey Silverglate wrote about the
New York Times and the Muhammad cartoons controversy in the
Phoenix here. (Hat tip to
reason magazine's
Hit and Run blog.)