Editing Hacktivism (section)

==Related practices==
{{see also|Civic hacking|Electronic civil disobedience}}

=== Culture jamming ===
Hacking has been sometime described as a form of [[culture jamming]].<ref name="JemielniakPrzegalinska20202">{{cite book|author1=Dariusz Jemielniak|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLDMDwAAQBAJ|title=Collaborative Society|author2=Aleksandra Przegalinska|date=18 February 2020|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-35645-9}}</ref>{{Rp|88}} This term refers to the practice of subverting and criticizing political messages as well as media culture with the aim of challenging the status quo. It is often targeted toward subliminal thought processes taking place in the viewers with the goal of raising awareness as well as causing a paradigm shift. Culture jamming takes many forms including [[billboard hacking]], [[broadcast signal intrusion]], ad hoc art performances, simulated legal transgressions,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Steinberg|first=Monica|date=2021-07-03|title=Coercive Disobedience: Art and Simulated Transgression|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00043249.2021.1920288|journal=Art Journal|volume=80|issue=3|pages=78–99|doi=10.1080/00043249.2021.1920288|s2cid=237576098 |issn=0004-3249}}</ref> [[meme]]s, and [[artivism]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Leng|first=Kirsten|date=2020|title=Art, Humor, and Activism: The Sardonic, Sustaining Feminism of the Guerrilla Girls, 1985–2000|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2474480405|journal=Journal of Women's History|volume=32|issue=4|pages=110–134|doi=10.1353/jowh.2020.0042|s2cid=234960403|id={{ProQuest|2474480405}}|via=ProQuest|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The term "culture jamming" was first coined in 1984 by American musician [[Don Joyce (musician)|Donald Joyce]] of the band [[Negativland]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Carducci|first=Vince|title=Culture Jamming|journal=Journal of Consumer Culture|year=2006|volume=6|issue=1|pages=116–138|doi=10.1177/1469540506062722|s2cid=145164048}}</ref> However, some speculation remains as to when the practice of culture jamming first began. Social researcher [[Vince Carducci]] believes culture jamming can be traced back to the 1950s with European social activist group [[Situationist International]]. Author and cultural critic [[Mark Dery]] believes medieval carnival is the earliest form of culture jamming as a way to subvert the social hierarchy at the time.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Culture jamming is sometimes confused with acts of vandalism. However, unlike culture jamming, the main goal of vandalism is to cause destruction with any political themes being of lesser importance. Artivism usually has the most questionable nature as a form of culture jamming because defacement of property is usually involved.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

===Media hacking===
''Media hacking'' refers to the usage of various [[electronic media]] in an innovative or otherwise abnormal fashion for the purpose of conveying a message to as large a number of people as possible, primarily achieved via the [[World Wide Web]].<ref>{{cite web | year = 2005 | url = http://www.seanbohan.com/?p=6 | title = Media Hacking | publisher = SeanBohan.com | author = Bohan, S. | access-date = February 9, 2007 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929114342/http://www.seanbohan.com/?p=6 | archive-date = September 29, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | year = 2005 | url = http://www.meskelsquare.com/archives/2005/11/hacking_baby_cheetahs_and_hung.html | title = Hacking Baby Cheetahs and Hunger Strikes | publisher = Meskel Square | author = Heavens, A. | access-date = February 9, 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061108145039/http://www.meskelsquare.com/archives/2005/11/hacking_baby_cheetahs_and_hung.html | archive-date = November 8, 2006 }}</ref> A popular and effective means of media hacking is posting on a [[blog]], as one is usually controlled by one or more independent individuals, uninfluenced by outside parties. The concept of [[social bookmarking]], as well as Web-based [[Internet forum]]s, may cause such a message to be seen by users of other sites as well, increasing its total reach.

Media hacking is commonly employed for political purposes, by both political parties and [[dissident|political dissidents]]. A good example of this is the 2008 US Election, in which both the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] parties used a wide variety of different media in order to convey relevant messages to an increasingly Internet-oriented audience.<ref>{{cite web |author=Peter Kafka |url=http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/6/presidential_debates_come_to_twitter_how_to_follow_along |title=Obama, McCain Debate Via Twitter: How To Follow Along* |publisher=Alleyinsider.com |date=2008-06-20 |access-date=2011-07-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207082105/http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/6/presidential_debates_come_to_twitter_how_to_follow_along |archive-date=2009-02-07 }}</ref> At the same time, political dissidents used [[blog]]s and other social media like [[Twitter]] in order to reply on an individual basis to the presidential candidates. In particular, sites like Twitter are proving important means in gauging popular support for the candidates, though the site is often used for dissident purposes rather than a show of positive support.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://goodgearguide.com.au/index.php/id;1823349553 |title=Twitter backlash over McCain campaign 'suspension' |publisher=Good Gear Guide |date=2008-09-25 |access-date=2011-07-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201043312/http://goodgearguide.com.au/index.php/id |archive-date=2008-12-01 }}</ref>

Mobile technology has also become subject to media hacking for political purposes. [[Short message service|SMS]] has been widely used by political dissidents as a means of quickly and effectively organising [[smart mobs]] for political action. This has been most effective in the Philippines, where SMS media hacking has twice had a significant impact on whether or not the country's Presidents are elected or removed from office.<ref>{{cite web |author=Howard Rheingold |url=http://www.smartmobs.com/2006/08/22/wikipedia-on-sms-political-impacts/ |title=Blog Archive » Wikipedia on SMS, political impacts |publisher=Smart Mobs |date=2006-08-22 |access-date=2011-07-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613113554/http://www.smartmobs.com/2006/08/22/wikipedia-on-sms-political-impacts/ |archive-date=2011-06-13 }}</ref>

===Reality hacking===
''Reality hacking'' is any phenomenon that emerges from the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous [[Digital data|digital]] tools in pursuit of politically, socially, or [[culture jamming|culturally subversive]] ends. These tools include [[website defacement]]s, [[URL redirection]]s, [[denial-of-service attack]]s, information theft, web-site parodies, [[virtual sit-in]]s, and virtual [[sabotage]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

Art movements such as [[Fluxus]] and [[Happening]]s in the 1970s created a climate of receptibility in regard to loose-knit organizations and group activities where spontaneity, a [[modern primitive|return to primitivist behavior]], and an ethics where activities and [[artivism|socially engaged art]] practices became tantamount to [[aesthetic]] concerns.{{Clarify | date = January 2010}}

The conflation of these two histories in the mid-to-late 1990s {{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} resulted in cross-overs between virtual sit-ins, [[electronic civil disobedience]], denial-of-service attacks, as well as mass protests in relation to groups like the [[International Monetary Fund]] and the [[World Bank]]. The rise of collectives, [[net.art]] groups, and those concerned with the fluid interchange of technology and [[real life (reality)|real life]] (often from an environmental concern) gave birth to the practice of "reality hacking".

Reality hacking relies on [[tweaking]] the everyday communications most easily available to individuals with the purpose of awakening the political and [[social connectedness|community conscience]] of the larger population. The term first came into use among New York and San Francisco artists, but has since been adopted by a [[school of thought|school]] of political activists centered around [[culture jamming]].

====In fiction====
The 1999 science fiction-action film ''[[The Matrix]]'', among others, popularized the [[simulation hypothesis]] — the suggestion that [[reality]] is in fact a [[simulation]] of which those affected by the simulants are generally unaware. In this context, "reality hacking" is reading and understanding the code which represents the activity of the simulated reality environment (such as [[Matrix digital rain]]) and also modifying it in order to bend the [[laws of physics]] or otherwise modify the [[simulated reality]].

Reality hacking as a mystical practice is explored in the [[Goth subculture|Gothic-Punk]] aesthetics-inspired [[White Wolf, Inc.|White Wolf]] [[urban fantasy]] role-playing game ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]''. In this game, the Reality Coders (also known as Reality Hackers or Reality Crackers) are a faction within the [[Virtual Adepts]], a secret society of mages whose [[Magic (fantasy)|magick]] revolves around [[Digital data|digital]] technology. They are dedicated to bringing the benefits of [[cyberspace]] to [[Real life|real space]]. To do this, they had to identify, for lack of a better term, the "[[source code]]" that allows our [[Universe]] to function. And that is what they have been doing ever since. Coders infiltrated a number of levels of society in order to gather the greatest compilation of knowledge ever seen. One of the Coders' more overt agendas is to acclimate the masses to the world that is to come. They spread Virtual Adept ideas through [[video game]]s and a whole spate of "[[reality show]]s" that mimic [[virtual reality]] far more than "real" reality. The Reality Coders consider themselves the future of the Virtual Adepts, creating a world in the image of visionaries like [[Grant Morrison]] or [[Terence McKenna]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}

In a [[location-based game]] (also known as a pervasive game), reality hacking refers to tapping into phenomena that exist in the real world, and tying them into the game story universe.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1145/1501750.1501803 |chapter=The art of game-mastering pervasive games |title=Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference in Advances on Computer Entertainment Technology - ACE '08 |pages=224–31 |year=2008 |last1=Jonsson |first1=Staffan |last2=Waern |first2=Annika |isbn=978-1-60558-393-8 |s2cid=14311559 }}</ref>

===Academic interpretations ===
There have been various academic approaches to deal with hacktivism and urban hacking. In 2010, Günther Friesinger, [[Johannes Grenzfurthner]] and Thomas Ballhausen published an entire reader dedicated to the subject. They state: {{blockquote|Urban spaces became battlefields, signifiers have been invaded, new structures have been established: Netculture replaced counterculture in most parts and also focused on the everchanging environments of the modern city. Important questions have been brought up to date and reasked, taking current positions and discourses into account. The major question still remains, namely how to create culturally based resistance under the influence of capitalistic pressure and conservative politics.<ref>{{cite web|title=Urban Hacking: Cultural Jamming Strategies in the Risky Spaces of Modernity|url=https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-1536-4/urban-hacking/|publisher=Transcript|access-date=15 May 2018}}</ref>}}