Wikipedia Refuses to Remove Controversial Rock Album Cover

Wikipedia has decided to keep the cover of the 50-year-old rock album “Virgin Killer” by Scorpions on its Finnish-language platform, despite calls for its removal.

The child welfare organization Pelastakaa Lapset had requested the removal of the album cover, arguing that it sexualizes a child and constitutes child exploitation material. The cover features a partially censored image of a nude young girl.

The debate surrounding the album cover has made the article one of the most read on the Finnish Wikipedia for two days. The decision to keep the cover was made by the community of volunteer editors who manage the Finnish Wikipedia. The majority of editors agreed that the request for removal should not be granted, citing the fact that the image is a piece of art that has been widely available for many years and is also present in other language versions of Wikipedia.

The controversy is not new. In 2008, the British Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) also demanded the removal of the cover from the English Wikipedia. The English Wikipedia community refused, and many British internet operators temporarily blocked access to the page. The IWF later withdrew its request, citing increased public interest in the image.

Source: Yle