The act of "black hat" hacking that is not specifically motivated by malice, curiosity or criminal intent, but for political purposes. This may include altering the content of a website (defacement), or preventing or inhibiting communication (such as through a denial of service attack). This term describes motive only, as the techniques employed are similar or identical to those of crackers.

Hacktivism (a portmanteau of hack and activism) is often understood as the writing of code, or otherwise manipulating bits, to promote political ideology - promoting expressive politics, free speech, human rights, or information ethics. The term was coined by author/culture critic Jason Sack in an article about media artist Shu Lea Cheang. The article was published in InfoNation in 1995.