Wikimedia Brasil Strategy 2026-2028

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A human roadmap for the free knowledge ecosystem

Executive Summary

This strategy guides Wikimedia Brasil's (WMB) actions for the next three years, from 2026 to 2028, aligning with the Theories of Change of 2021 and 2024 and incorporating the lessons learned from actively listening to the community through interviews, focus groups, and subcommittees conducted in 2025.

Wikimedia Brasil emphasizes the urgency of:

1. Sustain collaborative practices in favor of free knowledge
2. Articulate strategic alliances in defense of digital public goods
3. Promote the Wiki methodology on the internet in Portuguese

These three axes, summarized in the verbs "to sustain", "to articulate", and "to promote", propose a strategic mapping for action.

Methodology

This planning resulted from a participatory process that integrated:

• Critical Review of the Theory of Change — 2021, of the Learnings Report 2023-2025, of the Strategic Process Report 2023-2025 and of the cross-referencing with the content of the Theory of Change 2024;
• Semi-structured individual interviews with editors and partners of different profiles (academics, Wikimedia leaders, activists, veteran and young editors and users, for example);
• Focus groups with the Brazilian community and a series of strategic discussions;
• Subcommittee meetings: there being five subcommittees, each of them had two virtual meetings and, in addition, one in-person meeting with 18 members from the five subcommittees (and a virtual meeting with the members who were not present at the in-person meeting);
• Quantitative and qualitative environmental analysis, mapping the evolution of edits, records, accesses, and the regional profile of the Portuguese-speaking community, and research on the social profile of Portuguese-speaking Wikimedia users.

The result was synthesized into three main axes, which condense strategic intentions, maintaining the emphasis on human centrality and the public nature of collaborative projects.

Overview of the Current Situation on Free Knowledge and the Digital Environment

Technologies are entities embedded in the historical, social, cultural, and political contexts in which they were developed. They are global agents of political and economic action, such that a country's direction is tied to its political-digital strategy. Precisely because of their contextual, social, and political nature, the organizational models of digital technologies, the types of socio-technical information infrastructures, and regulatory processes are also spaces of great dispute. Contemporary hegemonic models of information production and circulation change the way the internet, and information itself, are used, created, and consumed.

The current scenario, with corporate digital networks and algorithmic systems, fuels echo chambers and polarizations that are not open to diversity. This model leads to epistemicide, reinforcement of power structures, and historical influences that do not represent the diversity of human knowledge. On the other hand, a democratic digital environment can be a space for freedom of expression and the expansion of possible futures.

The collaborative and open production paradigm of projects like Wiki is based on a participatory methodology, through an architecture in which people can create, edit, and share knowledge and content in a decentralized, transparent, flexible, democratic, and resilient way, adaptable to user needs.

This model, based on the collective construction of knowledge, open source code, and free licenses, is centered on human knowledge. The Wiki differs from the proprietary model by not maintaining technical control and intellectual property belonging to a corporation, working with open code and data, enabling decentralized and collective decision-making, allowing user modifications, and offering technological plurality.

International Context

The international context for free knowledge and the digital environment is characterized by tensions, directions, and rights in dispute. Open policies; Digital Sovereignty; Perspectives from the Global South; Threats to data privacy and impacts on organizations and agents of knowledge production; Regulatory responses; Environmental issues; Disinformation; Artificial Intelligence; Digital Public Goods. In addition to the interfaces of the Wikimedia movement with the contexts and aspects mentioned.

The current international landscape presents multiple competing interests. European Union countries have maintained a certain global benchmark in regulation to encourage open science and F.A.I.R. (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data, while multilateral initiatives such as UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) advocate for minimum standards of open access to scientific information, protection of digital linguistic diversity, and promotion of global collaborative platforms. On the other hand, there are movements that favor greater liberalization of proprietary companies and the concentration of power in the hands of so-called Big Tech companies, as well as movements that emphasize informational sovereignty and state regulation of the innovation environment.

Countries in the Global South are acting in this context to promote autonomy, contextual technological development, and participation in Internet governance bodies. Digital colonialism, which fosters dependence on proprietary, often monetized technologies, compromises access to technology in contexts of socioeconomic inequality. Concomitantly, the monopolization of technological development by large companies in the Global North disregards the perspectives, needs, and knowledge of these communities in technological development. The exclusion of these countries and their different social sectors from local and global Internet governance bodies compromises the democratic construction of an Internet that considers the diversity of subjects, contexts, and needs.

In all cases, a situation arises that calls into question a key function of democracy: freedom of expression, which is threatened in various ways, through non-transparent demonstrations, direct censorship by state power, and the absence of mechanisms that ensure the equitable and diverse participation of individuals and groups in internet governance during a very unstable period for democratic institutions.

The services, infrastructure, and resources developed by technology companies that dominate the digital market, the Big Techs, establish a model of dependency, compromising sustainability, limiting autonomy and innovation. Frequently, the actions of these organizations also affect the security and privacy of user data. These aspects compromise digital sovereignty, that is, the ability of countries, institutions, and individuals to control and protect their data and digital systems, preserving their autonomy and avoiding dependence on proprietary technologies.

The technological dependence on proprietary devices, data infrastructures, networks, programming languages, and software affects different knowledge institutions. Universities, schools, science and health centers, for example, become vulnerable when they transfer the management and analysis of critical data to such companies. This practice creates different types of risk, such as commercial and political vulnerability, arising from the possible exposure and misappropriation of sensitive data and information.

Another aspect impacted by these models is environmental sustainability. We can exemplify these impacts with aspects such as the use of technologies that employ non-renewable energies and depend on infrastructures that compromise environmental ecosystems. Data center infrastructure and the intensification of its use due to the greater adoption of artificial intelligence have increased carbon emissions and the consumption of fresh water for cooling, putting potable water reserves at risk.

In terms of mental health, platforms that use mechanisms to retain user attention through strategies and techniques that generate screen time dependence and that do not adopt age rating criteria have compromised the learning and health of children and adolescents. Another additional risk, pointed out by UNESCO, is the exposure of children to the risk of violence, abuse, and sexual exploitation online. These and other aspects underscore the need for regulatory measures.

This need is globally intertwined with disputes surrounding the revision of regulatory frameworks. Multiple factors are involved in this debate, such as attempts to guarantee more or fewer user rights, ensure freedom of expression, address abuses on digital platforms, protect personal data, and assess responsibility in the face of significant risks to democratic and community-based forms of knowledge production and access to quality information.

The World Economic Forum's 2024 Global Risks Report highlighted misinformation as "the most serious short-term risk facing the world." Its impacts are even more profound when considering the tendency for misinformation bubbles to form due to algorithmic behavior, and the amplification of the reach and speed of misinformation dissemination through certain uses of artificial intelligence (AI): autonomous intelligences that are rapidly changing the dynamics of information construction, availability, and access, thanks to the emergence of large language models (LLMs) from data collection whose use discourages human participation in knowledge building.

These tools can legitimize unsubstantiated claims and normalize discrimination, promoting or amplifying the epistemicide of underrepresented groups. We are witnessing the rise of an anti-democratic bloc that has already allowed the proliferation of hate speech, falsified news, and the spread of disinformation. In this complex and multifaceted situation, it is essential to offer robust, substantiated, and reliable information to guarantee its integrity.

In contrast to anti-scientific sentiment, various forms of denialism, and anti-intellectualism that undermine democratic dynamics, the current context also favors the flourishing of initiatives and partnerships committed to confronting disinformation, intertwining proactive regulation, recognition of technological diversity, inclusion of knowledge, and promotion of information integrity. Opportunities are opening up to unlock the emancipatory potential of technology in concrete achievements of social justice, epistemic plurality, and communicational democracy.

In this context, it is necessary to both defend and extrapolate the Wikimedia Movement model, replicating principles from projects like Wikipedia, which has been recognized as a Digital Public Good. We understand that strengthening and expanding a pluralistic informational ecosystem, through a democratic digital environment and freedom of expression, is necessary to confront threats to the collaborative production of knowledge and free knowledge.

In this sense, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) recognized the challenge that if Wikipedia is perceived as indistinguishable from automated content, it could lose its legitimacy. "The Wikimedia movement faces global trends that will strongly affect how we work: declining trust in online information, the rise of generative AI, and increasing threats to freedom of expression and knowledge sharing." Now, we need to ask ourselves: how can we leverage the relevance of what the Wikimedia Movement represents, better organize ourselves to defend, sustain, and promote innovations so that our communities remain healthy and our projects remain relevant?

Regulatory Environment and Digital Policies in Brazil

Brazil stands out as one of the largest digital "spaces" in the world, with million users and intensive use of apps and social networks. The average time spent on apps and networks in the country is among the highest on the planet. Having to respond simultaneously to international challenges and domestic demands for digital rights and innovation, Brazil is experiencing a turning point in the digital regulatory environment, facing its own issues related to ensuring the integrity of information.

Wikimedia Brasil believes that technological advancements have not eliminated historical challenges: regional connectivity asymmetries, high rates of functional illiteracy, lack of media literacy, low levels of critical reading, unequal access to quality information, and the distinct needs and contexts across the country's regions make structural difficulties in digital inclusion persistent. Regional inequality and the exclusion of vulnerable groups continue to limit full access to free knowledge and collaborative participation.

Regulatory initiatives (both current and under development) bring some progress in protecting digital rights and freedom of expression, but also significant challenges. Brazil's regulatory environment is dynamic: it is advancing established laws (Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, General Personal Data Protection Law, Access to Information Law), while actively discussing bills on artificial intelligence, digital inclusion, protection of children online, the new National Education Plan, combating electoral disinformation and platform regulation (see the 10 CGI.br principles for social networks). On the other hand, there have been setbacks in the debate on the bill on fake news, and discussions about regulation present risks when they disregard different contexts and, by overgeneralizing, end up creating legal uncertainties and threatening the most democratic and collaborative models (such as the wiki model and federated networks). A capacity for articulation and advocacy in defense of the free knowledge ecosystem is fundamental, reducing threats of extreme judicialization by differentiating exceptional cases.

Another relevant point in the regulatory landscape is the relationship between public authorities and the adoption of open licensing practices. There is a growing intention, in different instances, to make materials produced with public resources accessible to society, in line with the principle that collectively funded knowledge should return as a public good. However, concrete progress is still lacking in the Copyright Law, and consistent policies and normative instruments that clearly encourage and guide the use of open licenses, as well as standardized technical criteria for the correct classification and availability of these materials. This hinders the full effectiveness of the use of materials and limits the potential for reuse, circulation, and strengthening of the ecosystem of open educational resources and free knowledge. Additionally, the national scenario presents a history of discontinuities in the policies and programs that are implemented, and substantial disparities in the local conditions of states and municipalities.

One of the major challenges lies in the overlapping scenarios: the battles for net neutrality, for internet privacy, for ethical use of artificial intelligence and content licensing are fought simultaneously at municipal, national and international levels. While endorsing global pacts for digital cooperation and advancing discussions on internet governance, Brazil is also conducting local legislative debates on "zero rating" and internet toll, called "fair share", which may favor certain proprietary platforms and their commercial logics and restrict the reach of collaborative initiatives or subject citizens to opaque terms of use.

At a time when technologies have transformed the world into a digital one, it is necessary to preserve, consolidate, and develop a free digital culture. This requires special attention to the critical use of the internet, guided by ethical principles and human protagonism in knowledge, fostering practices to combat misinformation (such as in health, climate emergencies, and politics) and ensuring that machines are at the service of well-being and the development of human capabilities. Faced with this scenario of changing technological and legal infrastructure (which, in a way, puts at risk the legacy built by the free and collaborative knowledge ecosystem and the defense of equitable access to knowledge as an essential public good for citizenship), Wikimedia Brasil has reformulated its guidelines around three new strategic axes.

The Three Strategic Axes: Sustain, Articulate, and Promote

Faced with the challenges and opportunities presented in the national and international landscape, the new axes, which will guide the action and intentions of Wikimedia Brasil, are integrated into a utopian-realistic temporality, as we seek to "sustain" the experiences of the immediate past (of learning and preserving the achievements of the previous cycle), as we collectively co-create ways to "articulate" and strengthen plural networks of partnerships and communities in the current ecosystem of free knowledge, as we integrate technologies and collective subjects to "promote" the potential of other futures, seeking to innovate in ways of doing things based on the Wikimedia community's own model. In this way, we can strengthen experiences, develop infrastructures, and integrate the network with other socio-technical solutions under the same paradigm of collaborative and open knowledge production, based on an architecture of participation, in which people can create, edit, and share knowledge and content in a decentralized, transparent, flexible, and democratic way.

Sustain collaborative practices in favor of free knowledge

Action points

1. To foster programs and experiences that strengthen the resilience of open knowledge communities, promoting autonomy, sustainability, and appreciation.
2. Provide tools, resources, and training to facilitate content contribution and project sustainability.
3. Implement active listening methodologies and promote community health.
4. Consolidate community governance practices that ensure democratic participation, transparency, and shared responsibility in decision-making.
5. Strengthen the community through the organization of training spaces and spaces for socialization.
6. Support the leading role of communities from the Global South in internet governance bodies.

Articulate strategic alliances in defense of digital public goods

Action points

1. Identify and map institutions, organizations, social movements, open platforms, and agents of cultural diversity, promoting recognition and collective engagement with digital public goods.
2. Establish protocols for interaction, cooperation, and mutual support to create collective resilience and articulation between the open knowledge ecosystem, knowledge agencies, and related projects.
3. Facilitate partnerships aimed at knowledge equity and information integrity.
4. Establish collaborative transnational projects that connect experiences and methodologies among countries of the Global South, addressing common problems.
5. Promote and support events and campaigns in conjunction with networks and collectives in defense of digital public goods.
6. Establish alliances for collaboration between entities, as well as the creation of federated governance mechanisms.

Promote the Wiki methodology on the internet in Portuguese

Action points

1. Map, document, and adopt good social practices in the digital commons.
2. Promote methodologies of democratization, collaboration, and transparency in fields such as research, open science, open data, digital infrastructure, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
3. Support advocacy efforts with public and private bodies and agents to promote the adoption of transparency and open access protocols and policies.
4. Engage local and thematic communities in updating content about culture, science, education, and public policy.
5. Establish protocols for citizen digital transparency and define parameters for secure and responsible transparency.
6. Promote digital literacy and awareness in favor of information integrity.
7. Extrapolate Wikimedia's methodology to other contexts and practices of knowledge production and circulation.

Objectives

• Facilitate contact and ensure collaboration between synergistic partner entities and related projects in support of open knowledge;
• Act with equity across the entire territory, considering the economic, social, and technological inequalities of Brazil;
• Promote the autonomous and sustainable formation of local groups and build a shared Wikimedia experience in the country;
• Work on the consolidation and institutionalization of partnerships with underrepresented communities in Portuguese-speaking countries, with affiliates from the Global South, and re-center Wikimedia on peripheral realities;
• Plan and promote practices and strategies that ensure the long-term economic and community sustainability of WMB as a coordination hub and autonomous promoter of networks in support of free knowledge;
• Contribute to the improvement of open technologies and consolidate the digital infrastructure for public interest according to regional realities and needs;
• Position Wikimedia in Brazil in relation to digital transformations and internet governance in support of information integrity, epistemic justice, and free knowledge.

Principles

• Centrality of human and community agency – recognize people and communities at the center of the production, curation, and governance of free knowledge.
• Participatory critical documentation – ensure rigor, transparency, equality, and responsible access in all processes and content.
• Epistemic justice and decoloniality – value, encourage, and recognize the leading role of plural forms of knowledge and combat epistemicide.
• Programmatic and institutional sustainability – ensure the continuity, autonomy, and resilience of the actions and structures of free knowledge movements.
• Local, regional and South-South solidarity – articulate diverse networks for the exchange of knowledge, cultural exchanges, technologies and strategies.
• Contextual innovation and continuous learning – cultivate and transform free methodologies and technologies for local realities.
• Protection and integrity of the ecosystem – uphold free knowledge in the face of threats that restrict its free circulation.
• Shared time – promote collective spaces and experiences that are accessible, inclusive, and meaningful for community health.

Final Considerations

The dialectic between the two Theories of Change (2021 and 2024) guides our three new axes of action. In short, the wiki model – as a democratic, transparent, participatory, and plural horizon – is under pressure from technological, legal, and political changes, in a complex international and national context. At the same time, it is called upon to sustain this participatory architecture, affirming collaborative communities of practice in service of free knowledge, to articulate itself by prospecting alliances, and to expand its methodology, paving the way for a future where the production, access, and regulation of free knowledge are practiced in a radically open, innovative, and emancipatory way. Sustaining, articulating, and promoting are, therefore, inseparable dimensions of the strategic response to this new digital, plural, and contested world.