BotPopuli

Read the latest issue of DataSyn here: tinyurl.com/DSJul25

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On TAAK India's digitalization journey has presented us with two different, but related, notions concerning personal data. On one hand is the recognition of da...

Our final piece is a conversation with a filmmaker whose latest film, TAAK, highlights how the politics of digitalization play out on the silver screen.

botpopuli.net/on-taak/

WSIS and the Movement to Democratize Communication When the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was convened by the UN in 2003 (in Geneva) and 2005 (in Tunis), it was to be the first global mul...

Our third piece delves into the significance of the WSIS process and how its key moments frame the stakes of the contemporary struggles for digital justice.

botpopuli.net/wsis-and-the...

Dispatches from the WSIS+20 High-Level Event The recently concluded WSIS+20 High-Level Event (7–11 July 2025, Geneva) marked a pivotal moment in the lead-up to the WSIS+20 Overall Review by the...

Our second piece is a series of reflections on the outcomes of WSIS+20 High Level event and what it portends for the struggle for digital justice going forward.

botpopuli.net/dispatches-f...

Platform Power and the Future of Work: Labor Frontiers in the Cross-Border Digital Economy After years of sustained organizing and pressure by workers, unions, and allied movements across continents, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) ...

Our first piece situates the global push for standards on platform work within the broader political economy of platform capitalism and the lived realities of its dispersed workforce.

botpopuli.net/platform-pow...

Digital Multilateralism in the Age of Turbulence Dear Reader,

#NewsletterAlert📣

The latest issue of DataSyn is here!

In this issue, we turn our attention to the ongoing multilateral discussions around the digital economy.

The fight for fair rules in the platform economy is gaining momentum. Global standards for gig work are on the table but will they challenge inequality or entrench it?
@botpopuli.bsky.social breaks down the stakes: botpopuli.net/platform-pow...

In our latest piece, @karishmabanga.bsky.social explores how digital trade governance can entrench asymmetries in global taxation, undermining economic recovery and tax justice in the Global South.

Read here: botpopuli.net/trade-rules-...

Our latest piece features an interview with @karishmabanga.bsky.social as she delves into how digitalization has recalibrated the landscape of taxation and how this change impacts the fiscal autonomy of poorer countries.

Read the full story here: botpopuli.net/trade-rules-...

Drawing on inputs from key perspectives across the Global South, our latest piece by Abhineet Nayyar maps how the US’s desire to consolidate its geoeconomic position will impact developing countries.

Read more: botpopuli.net/trumps-tarif...

@neetlefty.bsky.social

How are countries in the Global Majority world responding to the US’s sudden demand for trade (re)negotiations in the digital economy?

Our latest piece by Abhineet Nayyar investigates.
Read here: botpopuli.net/trumps-tarif...

What does the India–UK Free Trade Agreement mean for India’s digital future?

📲 In our latest piece, we unpack how the deal’s digital trade provisions may undermine India’s ambitions for digital sovereignty—handing more power to Big Tech.

link in bio!

In our latest article, we examine how the India–UK Free Trade Agreement challenges India’s digital sovereignty, revealing who gains and who loses in the new digital trade order.

Read this article: botpopuli.net/analyzing-th...

#DigitalSovereignty #IndiaUKFTA #DigitalTrade #TradeJustice

Have you read our latest piece “On Humans In The Loop” yet? Susan Sreemala speaks with Aranya Sahay for a filmmaker’s view on telling the story of AI from the margins in his latest film, Humans in the Loop.

Read now: botpopuli.net/on-humans-in...

On Humans In The Loop Humans in the Loop (2024) is the story of an Adivasi (a collective name used for the many indigenous peoples of India) woman who begins interacting with ...

Susan Sreemala caught up with the film’s director and together they reflect on the unique questions the film brings up about the nature of data work, the promise of such work for women like the protagonist, and what it means to tell such stories.

botpopuli.net/on-humans-in...

The film Humans in the Loop tells the story of an adivasi woman in India’s state of Jharkhand, who, in the aftermath of a personal upheaval, decides to take up the enigmatic new job of becoming a data labeller.

Laurenz Sachenbacher reflects on the factors that motivated the Data Workers' Inquiry and the critical insights that have emerged from its first phase.

Read Now: botpopuli.net/the-data-wor...

📄 Read the paper: itforchange.net/unbearable-l...

#GigEconomy #PlatformCapitalism #DigitalLabour #ReproductiveLabour #DataExtraction #FeministEconomics

In the Unbearable Lightness of Being a Gig Worker, Anuradha Ganapathy and Nandini Chami speak to women #gigworkers who show how these platforms extract value far beyond the task—drawing from the unpaid, #invisiblelabor that sustains workers' lives.

Take a close look at this inspiring community-based research project in which data workers join as community researchers to lead their own inquiry in their respective workplaces.

Read it here: botpopuli.net/the-data-wor...

With the creator economy growing at an exponential rate, our latest article questions the asymmetrical power that platforms wield over content creators who depend on them for their livelihoods.

Read the full story here: botpopuli.net/social-media...

#InfluencerEconomy #SocialMedia #PlatformEconomy

Social media isn't just a pastime—it's a workplace. Platforms act as landlords, charging creators 'rent' through algorithms and monetization gates. Our latest piece dives into the realities of digital labor and the #PlatformEconomy.

Read it here:
botpopuli.net/social-media...

#DigitalLabor

Botlhokwa Nondali Ditshepo Ranta - and her bio

Our piece this week explores the emotional and mental toll faced by content moderators in the Global South who are treated as 'expendable, disposable, and replaceable' by Big Tech.

Read the full story here: botpopuli.net/dirty-laundr...

Dirty Laundry: My Journey Through the Algorithm from Soweto to Nairobi’s Tech Hub Let Me Tell You a Story Let me tell you a story—one that starts in the dusty, vibrant streets of Soweto, where dreams often drown in the noise of hust...

In our latest piece, Botlhokwa Nondali Ditshepo Ranta shares her experience of working in such a digital sweatshop in Nairobi.

Read the full piece here: botpopuli.net/dirty-laundr...

At the heart of Big Tech's efforts to "keep the internet safe" are thousands of data workers from the Global South who are exposed to violent, racist, and abusive content every single day.

The Algorithm’s Ghost Workers and the Illusion of Opportunity Ever since the CBS, 60 MINUTES documentary entitled ‘Training AI takes a heavy toll on Kenyans working for $2 an hour’ which I was featured in, aired...

Read the article on BotPopuli: botpopuli.net/the-algorith...

In our latest article, Fasica Berhane Gebrekidan reveals how African data workers, hidden behind AI systems, bear the emotional and psychological costs of tech’s progress—while their labor remains invisible and unprotected.

#GhostWorkers #AIandLabor #DigitalExploitation #ResponsibleAI #TechJustice

The Algorithm’s Ghost Workers and the Illusion of Opportunity Ever since the CBS, 60 MINUTES documentary entitled ‘Training AI takes a heavy toll on Kenyans working for $2 an hour’ which I was featured in, aired...

Read the article of BotPopuli: botpopuli.net/the-algorith...

In our latest article, Fasica Berhane Gebrekidan reveals how AI systems are built on the hidden labor of African data workers who endure trauma and exploitation—while Big Tech profits and looks away.

#DigitalLabour #AIExploitation #ContentModeration #PlatformWork #ResponsibleAI #GhostWorkers