Data has become an increasingly important aspect of our lives as we use more technology every day. Data activism uses technology and data to promote social and economic justice and change (Renzi & Langlois, 2015). By being active and vigilant about our data and its usage, and by combining the use of social media with data activism, we can enable change from our homes and drive movements globally to ensure a positive impact on the world.
The following text provides examples of oppressive practices rooted in a surveillance mindset, such as the invasion of privacy and systemic data manipulation. Additionally, it contains mentions of wartime violence and classified leaks that are not detailed.
Framing & Perspectives
In recent decades, there have been major technological advances – from the calculation of simple data to the collection of data from outer space. Both computers and humans use data to gather more information to predict trends and human behavior. However, technology, social phenomena, and current events are interconnected (Renzi & Langlois, 2015).
Before discussing how activism and technology manipulate and handle our data with algorithms, it is important to understand data agency. Data agency is when people become aware of the value of their data, know how to handle it, and how others access it (Gutiérrez, 2023). A common example of data agency is the use of cookies on websites. Cookies are primarily used to store users’ settings and preferences and track these preferences for commercial use (Rasaii et al., 2023). Some e-commerce websites may track your history and show you items related to your search. Rejecting these additional cookies that disallow other websites to track your movement is data agency – a form of data activism.
Data activism attempts to call for social and transformative justice in society by using technology. For instance, using open-source softwares to create accessible data is a form of data activism. Ethical or ‘grey’ hackers, such as Julian Assange or the online community of Anonymous, used hacking to release information and databases to the public. Assange aimed to create WikiLeaks for transparency and knowledge, releasing video footage of wartime crimes or information about elections in the U.S. (Fenster, 2021). They leaked videos of the U.S. bombing the Middle East during their war with Iraq, as well as classified documents, war logs, and emails of various countries. In the 2016 elections, WikiLeaks released Hilary Clinton’s emails which were later found to be innocent. However, the leak shifted the bias towards Trump and also the fact that Clinton was a woman. While many of the leaks were US based, WikiLeaks also leaked surveillance documents related to an ex-French president (Fenster, 2021).
Relevance
Data activism and agency is on a rise. During COVID-19, people in Brazil consolidated statistics and data that were available but fragmented across multiple platforms to create streamlined sources of information (Füssy, 2021). Volunteers did data management and checked manually to keep people updated about the death toll of COVID-19 and often corrected the official statements released by the government. This blend of technology with knowledge to empower the masses during a time of crisis is what data activism aims to encourage. In Russia, acts of data activism can be seen in the form of Telegram resisting the Russian government and avoiding the blockade of their services or releasing information to the public about the luxury car purchases done by the Ministry of Emergency Situations instead of firetrucks (Lonkila et al., 2020). Exposing the corruption and greed of politicians is not only data activism but also political activism and awareness. In 2025, technology, politics and activism are all tied together. Online data activism allows people to overcome barriers, allowing them to support causes by consolidating information (for better access), supporting hashtags, and signing petitions. While these actions may seem insignificant first, they support the offline protests, walks and marches that the other public is carrying out. Thus, data activism in the modern world is as essential as showing up on the streets to protest.
Keywords: Privacy, Right to Information, Data Justice, Restorative Justice, Whistleblowing
Connected terms: Incel, Kink, Nonconsensual Pornography, Racialized Beauty Standards, Representation, Woke, Trigger, Fatphobia, Job Polarization, Overconsumption
References
Fenster, M. (2021). Bullets of truth: Julian Assange and the politics of transparency. In Cultures of Transparency (pp. 63-80). Routledge.
Füssy, P. (2021, August 9). Data Activism as Essential Service. AIS eLibrary. https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2021/global_develop/global_develop/12/
Gutiérrez, M. (2023, October 20). Data activism: an increasingly relevant practice in the age of platforms. datos.gob.es. https://datos.gob.es/en/blog/data-activism-increasingly-relevant-practice-age-platforms
Liminga, A., & Lindgren, S. (2024). Mapping the discursive landscape of data activism: Articulations and actors in an emerging movement. Big Data & Society, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517241266416
Lonkila, M., Shpakovskaya, L., & Torchinsky, P. (2020). Digital Activism in Russia: The Evolution and Forms of Online Participation in an Authoritarian State [E-Book]. In The Palgrave Handbook of Digital Russia Studies. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42855-6
Rasaii, A., Singh, S., Gosain, D., & Gasser, O. (2023). Exploring the Cookieverse: A Multi-Perspective Analysis of Web Cookies. In Lecture notes in computer science (pp. 623–651). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28486-1_26Renzi, A., & Langlois, G. (2015). Data Activism. In Compromised Data: From Social Media to Big Data (pp. 202–225). Bloomsbury.
