An information activist is someone who works to make information available to the general population. Library and Information Scientist Anthony Molaro coined the term in 2009: "An information activist is a vigorous advocate of knowledge gained through study, communication, research or instruction".^[1]

Information activism is a term that can be applied to the work that libraries and librarians have done for decades. In the 1960s, many libraries advocated for the information rights of their clients, both inside and out of libraries, taking on various activist projects, including tenancy and labour rights.^[2] Recently, with the advent of new information technologies and the abundance of information that is available, information activism can be applied as a broader term to include people who utilize information in various advocacy projects. Tactical Technology Collective has proposed a definition of information activism as “the strategic and deliberate use of information within a campaign”^[3] which specifically refers to the use of publicly available information in activist projects. Information activists take on many projects to work to remove barriers and provide access to knowledge for all people. Information activism can take on many different forms and be used in many different fields including in librarianship, in archiving, and in activist projects.