Wikipedia in the anti-SOPA protests as a case study of direct, deliberative democracy in cyberspace

Piotr Konieczny (1)

1 Hanyang University

This paper contributes to the discussion on deliberative, direct democracy and volunteer mobilization in the Internet era by analyzing the participation levels of Wikipedia volunteer editors (Wikipedians). On 18th January 2012 in the “first Internet strike” against the American SOPA legislation, over two thousands Wikipedians took part in the vote concerning whether their site should undertake a protest action, with vast majority expressing support for this action. However, the vote participants formed only a tiny fraction of the total number of Wikipedians who number in millions. Although Wikipedia can be seen as an open, democratic forum practicing deliberative, direct democracy, the process of voting on Wikipedia is significantly influenced by participation inequality, with a majority of the vote participation coming from a small group of most active contributors – an effective oligarchy. This paper discusses the intricate dynamics between Wikipedia egalitarian ethos and the creed to discuss project matters deliberately on one hand and conspicuous lack of promotion and advertisement stemming from a rule against “canvassing” and an overall skepticism regarding the status of majority votes. The core reason responsible for the low levels of participation is an inefficient information distribution system, as the vast majority of Wikipedians were not aware of the ongoing discussions and the vote itself until after their conclusion.

Mots clés: dissemin

Domaines: Sociologie

Piotr Konieczny. Wikipedia in the anti-SOPA protests as a case study of direct, deliberative democracy in cyberspace. Information, Communication and Society, 2016, pp.1-18. ⟨10.1080/1369118x.2016.1157620⟩. ⟨hal-01580959⟩