“Hacking in” Wikipedia Zero in Angola

Abstract

Background A few years ago, a number of people in Angola were banned from editing Wikipedia Zero because they were concealing large files in the Wikimedia feature, from where the files could be shared in a private Facebook Zero group. Analysis To interpret this case study, the concept of “hacking in” is proposed as part of an open media and technological infrastructure. Conclusions and implications This short case study focuses on the ways in which users shape media infrastructure. These users tried to bypass the restricted conditions imposed on them first by a technology and a media ecology that increasingly resembles a walled-off garden and second by Wikipedia Zero’s associated discourse, which reinforced its designer’s intentions for the technology.