This special issue of Information Matters explores the crucial role of information in empowering and transforming communities facing systemic challenges and in redressing systemic inequalities. The eight articles in this special issue discuss different ways in which these objectives can be achieved.

In Roots to Routes: Community Resilience through Ancestral Knowledge, Peng argues that  information, and in particular the historical knowledge passed down through generations, plays a critical role in fostering resilience and guiding development. Over the centuries, Indigenous people have relied on oral stories to transmit vital information about the land and sea around them, which were crucial for their survival, and these stories provide a framework for adapting to modern issues such as climate change. Mnemohistory, the study of how societies remember and reinterpret their history, can reveal how Indigenous people engage with their environmental knowledge through storytelling, continuously reinterpreting and applying their ancestral knowledge to shape decisions and strengthen their resilience in the face of environmental changes. Peng argues that by examining how communities engage with and reinterpret historical information, we can see that ancestral knowledge is not fixed in place, but is an ever-changing resource that shapes resilience, sustainability, and justice in the present and future.

Whereas information inequities are usually discussed in relation to access to information, in How Information Objects Can Create Information Inequity, Peterson-Salahuddin argues that information inequities also occur through the construction of information objects. Taking the example of journalistic information production and digital sharing in the U.S., Peterson-Salahuddin argues that information production and information dissemination reflect mainstream biases and that this can be magnified by how contemporary digital platforms distribute this information. Since mainstream U.S. news organizations have historically been (and continue to be) dominated by white, middle and upper-middle-class men, their determinations of what constitutes a newsworthy story typically do not account for those characteristics of a story that may be important to marginalised communities. Moreover, the increased use of digital platforms to share information can further amplify these inequities. Therefore, Peterson-Salahuddin argues that information scholars should be more attentive to the practices through which information objects are produced and how they are shared in order to address information inequity in a holistic way.

In Political Advocacy and Social Justice through Information for Marginalised Communities, Islam and Du discuss the important role that access to accurate, relevant, and timely information play in enabling marginalised communities to effectively advocate for their political rights and strive for social justice. For marginalised communities, access to information can provide a gateway to learn about legal rights, government policies, and available resources. Access to data, information and published news allows marginalised communities to craft evidence-based arguments, thereby amplifying their voices in public discourse.

Traditional partnerships between governments, non-governmental organisations, universities, cultural institutions and communities are often not designed with the needs of marginalised communities at the forefront. They tend to be brief and to provide few lasting benefits. In Transforming Ourselves, Transforming Inequity: Reimagining Partnerships for Information Justice, Espinoza Vasquez and Oltmann challenge us to rethink the information problem faced by marginalised communities, not as a lack of information but as a manifestation of information precarity rooted in systemic exclusion. They argue that thinking of communities as “information poor” misrepresents the reality of systemic exclusion that produces this inequality, which is a reflection of structural barriers that limit access to institutionalised information flows. However, these communities possess deep, contextualised knowledge and agency, often engaging in purposeful, thoughtful practices to develop their own alternative information infrastructures to navigate, resist, protect themselves, and adapt to these exclusions. Espinoza Vasquez and Oltmann propose a strategy to build collaborations with marginalised communities that promote fair and balanced information exchange, based on the understanding that the problems are structural and multifaceted, rooted in information precarity, that marginalised communities use alternative information infrastructure, and that these communities may engage in protective practices to avoid engaging with the mainstream infrastructures that marginalise them.

Access to accurate health information is essential for improving well-being and reducing health inequalities. However, many people, especially those from marginalised communities, face challenges in accessing accurate and reliable health information. In Exploring Women’s Health Information Literacy with AI: A South Asian Study, Islam et al. present a project which will assess the common health challenges faced by women in 4 South Asian countries and their awareness and use of health apps. The project aims to develop a health information literacy model powered by AI to address the health challenges faced by women in South Asia and equip healthcare professionals, librarians, educators, and information scholars with effective tools to combat misinformation and promote critical evaluation of health information.

On a practical level, in Gatekeeping Reproductive Rights: Why SRHR Information Matters for Youth, Saha shows how community-led solutions can provide a cost-effective, culturally appropriate model to disseminate information on sensitive topics, such as sexual and reproductive health and rights, in marginalised communities. Taking the example of the Sexual Health and Empowerment (SHE) project, which operated in six remote and conflict-affected regions in the Philippines with high teen pregnancy and gender-based violence, she shows how a youth-led education campaign can be effective in communicating vital health information in a culturally sensitive way.

In Local Adaptation to Climate Change: Scope for MFIs in Bangladesh, Bashar argues that microfinance groups offer a valuable platform for members to share information, build trust within their community, and engage in collective cooperation. Their regular meetings offer an opportunity to exchange information relevant to climate mitigation and adaptation. The microfinance groups, therefore, can leverage the social capital of their members to combat localised challenges of climate change.

However, using online tools to access information can have negative consequences for marginalised communities. The prevalence of online harassment, including bullying, stalking, blackmailing, and threats of sexual violence, is a growing concern that particularly affect women in marginalised communities. In Understanding Cyberbullying targeting women in Bangladesh from complex social-ecological lens, Saha et al. report on the findings of a scoping study on cyberbullying among Bangladeshi women, which revealed  gaps in understanding the socio-cultural and ecological dimensions of cyberbullying and the effectiveness of existing countermeasures. The authors advocate for a holistic approach that considers societal norms, culture, and personal experiences to better address cyberbullying.