In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark decision that set the modern standard for libel cases involving the press — and the Times won. The ruling strengthened First Amendment protections, making it harder for public figures to sue for defamation and cementing a precedent that news organizations have relied on for decades.

Sixty years later, the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns and operates Wikipedia, has just faced a similarly high-stakes libel battle. This time, the publisher lost. In August 2025, after years of litigation in Portugal, WMF complied with a court order to remove disputed material from Wikipedia and hand over identifying information on eight of its volunteer editors.

The DePaço case is the first time WMF has both removed content and handed over contributor data in a European defamation case. Since its inception, WMF has argued that it can’t be held liable for statements made on Wikipedia since it claims to have no editorial control over the site. This latter assertion is debatable; WMF is willing to get directly involved in editorial issues when it suits its agenda.