Kaya Genç

They left Syria as refugees. They’re returning to build its tech industry After the fall of the Assad regime, tech workers are coming back to help rebuild their nation.

Since the collapse of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian tech workers who fled as refugees are returning to help rebuild their home country

New from @kayagenc.bsky.social:
restofworld.org/2025/syrian-...

Think about how differently you think about these people when they are "tech workers" versus when they are refugees.

Same people. But dignity only afforded them in one context.

They left Syria as refugees. They’re returning to build its tech industry After the fall of the Assad regime, tech workers are coming back to help rebuild their nation.

They left Syria as refugees. They’re returning to build its tech industry: @restofworld.org

They left Syria as refugees. They’re returning to build its tech industry After the fall of the Assad regime, tech workers are coming back to help rebuild their nation.

"Syrian tech workers who fled during civil war are returning home & launching startups.They face poor internet, cash based economy, & regulatory void. The nation is rebuilding rapidly, even as recurring sectarian clashes pose a risk"

restofworld.org/2025/syrian-...

They left Syria as refugees. They’re returning to build its tech industry After the fall of the Assad regime, tech workers are coming back to help rebuild their nation.

Syrian tech workers who fled during the civil war are returning home and launching startups. They face poor internet, unreliable electricity, and a regulatory void, but believe tech can help rebuild their war-battered nation, @kayagenc.bsky.social @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/syrian-...

They left Syria as refugees. They’re returning to build its tech industry After the fall of the Assad regime, tech workers are coming back to help rebuild their nation.

Türkiye’ye mülteci olarak geldiler. Şimdi ülkenin teknoloji endüstrisini kurmak üzere Suriye’ye dönmeye hazırlanıyorlar. @restofworld.org için hazırladığım dosya: restofworld.org/2025/syrian-...

They left Syria as refugees. They’re returning to build its tech industry After the fall of the Assad regime, tech workers are coming back to help rebuild their nation.

After the fall of the Assad regime, tech workers are coming back to help rebuild their nation. For @restofworld.org, I spoke to Syrian-origin tech workers —Mohammed Dayoub, Mojahed Akil, Baraah Ramadan, Rasheed Hamwi, Ragheed Obeid & Muhammed Alzubi about their plans restofworld.org/2025/syrian-...

They left Syria as refugees. They’re returning to build its tech industry After the fall of the Assad regime, tech workers are coming back to help rebuild their nation.

En Syrie, rebâtir internet fait partie des grands chantiers.

Cette gang a de grandes ambitions 👇

restofworld.org/2025/syrian-...

Borrowing from Erdoğan’s playbook - Kaya Genç, 2025

"Borrowing from Erdoğan’s playbook" by @kayagenc.bsky.social. [2/5]

#CinsiCinsineÇeker

Turkey’s academics, independent media and artists are feeling the threat of the USA’s rising authoritarianism and unfair treatment of immigrants – but it is not the first time they have dealt with repression. For the Summer 2025 number of @indexoncensorship.org:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

US President #Trump and Turkish President #Erdoğan are cracking down on dissent in strikingly similar ways - and journalists, artists and academics are paying the price. Our contributing editor @kayagenc.bsky.social writes in our latest issue: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... #USA

Including features from @rebeccalroot.bsky.social, @kayagenc.bsky.social, @emilycouchuk.bsky.social,
@martinbright.bsky.social, @nikwilliams.bsky.social, @katiedd.bsky.social, and many others.

For a limited time only, our new magazine issue, Land of the Free? is free to access! In it, we explore how #Trump's administration is impacting free speech in the #US & beyond. Explore: journals.sagepub.com/toc/IOC/curr...

Borrowing from Erdoğan’s playbook - Kaya Genç, 2025

My comments included in this new essay by @kayagenc.bsky.social comparing crackdowns on academics in Turkey and the US.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Now with an updated URL for "Plebs and Chavs: On Textual Representation of Class", by @kayagenc.bsky.social: lareviewofbooks.org/article/pleb... [URL was probably right in 2012.....]

The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back Content moderators say they’re exposed to graphic violence, psychological trauma, and union-busting tactics, and now a larger movement is brewing.

TikTok content moderators in Turkey are speaking out about traumatic working conditions, including exposure to graphic content, long hours, and a lack of mental health support, @kayagenc.bsky.social reports for @restofworld.org restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...

Cansu Yıldıran

Photographer Cansu Yıldıran was detained yesterday while observing @istanbulpride.bsky.social. After being held for 24 hours, Yıldıran was among 50 people released but banned from traveling abroad. If you're not familiar with Yıldıran's great work, check it out here: cansuyildiran.com #Pride2025

Creative Resistance in the Heart of Istanbul Istanbul Manufacturers Bazaar, formerly a shopping mall, exemplifies how reimagined institutions can nurture collaboration and political solidarity

www.frieze.com/article/kaya... Creative resistance - nurturing creativity and political solidarity in Erdoğan’s Turkey

The workers are bound by nondisclosure agreements and are concerned that they can be replaced at any time by AI, so they are less likely to speak up about their problems, Miceli told Rest of World. “If you let workers believe that AI will soon replace them, they are going to try as much as they can to hold on to their jobs, do everything the boss says and behave so that they are not going to be fired,” she said.

The fight for content moderators' rights shows just how many overlapping systems fail workers: labor, corporate regulation, AI regulation, outsourcing, etc... restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...

The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back Content moderators say they’re exposed to graphic violence, psychological trauma, and union-busting tactics, and now a larger movement is brewing.

Super interesting piece about TikTok content moderators in Turkey. restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...

100 Days Later Notes from my travels and writings

New substack! kayagenc.substack.com/p/100-days-l...

The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back Content moderators say they’re exposed to graphic violence, psychological trauma, and union-busting tactics, and now a larger movement is brewing.

The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...

"If you let workers believe that AI will soon replace them, they are going to try as much as they can to hold on to their jobs, do everything the boss says and behave so that they are not going to be fired."

https://restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-moderators-turkey/

(CW for brief references to the […]

The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back Content moderators say they’re exposed to graphic violence, psychological trauma, and union-busting tactics, and now a larger movement is brewing.

TikTok content moderators struggle to unionize... restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...

The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back Content moderators say they’re exposed to graphic violence, psychological trauma, and union-busting tactics, and now a larger movement is brewing.

We’ve seen this pattern with social media content moderation play out again and again, all over the world:

“What started as a high-paying, enjoyable job done from home turned psychologically grueling as workers felt increasingly surveilled and pressured.”

The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back Content moderators say they’re exposed to graphic violence, psychological trauma, and union-busting tactics, and now a larger movement is brewing.

“If you let workers believe that AI will soon replace them, they are going to try as much as they can to hold on to their jobs..." | The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...

The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back Content moderators say they’re exposed to graphic violence, psychological trauma, and union-busting tactics, and now a larger movement is brewing.

"The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back" by @kayagenc.bsky.social. [2/5]

The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back Content moderators say they’re exposed to graphic violence, psychological trauma, and union-busting tactics, and now a larger movement is brewing.

“If you let workers believe that AI will soon replace them, they are going to try as much as they can to hold on to their jobs, do everything the boss says and behave so that they are not going to be fired,” @milamiceli.bsky.social

restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...

The people who clean up your TikTok feed are starting to fight back Content moderators say they’re exposed to graphic violence, psychological trauma, and union-busting tactics, and now a larger movement is brewing.

TikTok content moderators say they’re exposed to graphic violence, brutal hours, and union-busting tactics. In Turkey, they are demanding better working conditions, reports @kayagenc.bsky.social for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...