The Wikimedia Foundation has issued a statement in support of Italian Wikipedia users' decision to shut down their site.

Italian Wikipedia users yesterday decided to make the site inaccessible in response to a proposed law from Berlusconi's government that would give bloggers just 48 hours to take down articles if the subjects objected.

Jay Walsh, who works in communications at the Wikimedia Foundation, wrote:

The Wikimedia Foundation stands with our volunteers in Italy who are challenging the recently drafted “DDL intercettazioni” (or Wiretapping Bill) bill in Italy. This bill would hinder the work of projects like Wikipedia: open, volunteer-driven, and collaborative spaces dedicated to sharing high-quality knowledge, not to mention the ability for all users of the internet to engage in democratic, free speech opportunities.

The post has lead to a number of comments from Italians and non-Italians, who at present seem to be fairly evenly split between those who support the protest and those who think Wikipedia must remain neutral in political situations.

Read the entire statement at the Wikimedia Foundation >