Nilesh Christopher
@NilChristopher
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Harvard Nieman Fellow 25' | Tech journalist Bylines: @Wired , @TheAtlantic , @RestofWorld , @Vice , @BBC , @SCMPnews Connect: nileshchristopher.work @gmail .com
Bengaluru, India
Joined December 2012
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India's ruling party used AI-generated Deepfakes videos for online election campaigning targeting 15 million people via 5800 WhatsApp groups; BJP Party candidate is seen saying things he never said, in a language he doesn't know. It's impossible to tell!
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NEW: WhatsApp is now a spammers’ paradise in India
WhatsApp that was once a private & intimate space to chat with friends & family now feels like a busy main street crowded with hawkers
My latest for
@restofworld
is on the rise of WhatsApp corporate spam
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NEW: Inside Pakistan's Amazon scam boom, and its ruinous impact on local sellers
For months, a screwed crop of scamsters outsmarted Amazon, & defrauded customers. When Amazon found out it banned 13000 seller accounts —
@SiddiquiZuha
& I report🧵
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1/8 If you are one of those interested in reading about how Chinese apps like TikTok, Bigo and Likee have shaped Indian communities and their identities, bookmark this thread and browse through 🧵
It includes some fantastic reporting from eminent friends and colleagues as well
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My first story for WIRED: I describe in detail the way casteist hate speech spreads on TikTok based on previously unseen court documents, on-ground reporting and going down the rabbit hole of hate
#TikTok
#HateSpeech
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While Big Tech comes to South Asia for the elusive “next billion” users, India’s tech guru says his latest app caters to the 1%
@kunalb11
talks about his early life,
@CRED_club
, & why he drives a Vespa & not a designer car
Also, the photos are🔥
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NEW: Myntra — India's Shein — is slapping extra fees, denying cash on delivery, & suspending accounts of frequent returners, alienating some loyal users.
We are entering a more frugal era in e-commerce where cos don't want users returning their orders
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SCOOP: How a tiny tweak to Zomato’s algorithm led to lost delivery riders, stolen bikes and missed wages in Bangalore🧵
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New from me: The growing cult of Facebook commerce in Bangladesh 🧵
For
@restofworld
I dig into Bangladesh's Facebook economy where everything from parrots to pyjamas is bought and sold on Facebook. And it has a name: F-commerce
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NEW: Deepfake tech until now has suffered from association with unethical use in non-consensual celebrity porn. My latest talks about how deepfakes are now gaining a toehold in the corporate world 🧵
1/ Bollywood star
@iHrithik
wishing me on Rakhi
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Telegram has over 40m users in India, making the country its largest user base. Free (pirated) content, mentors, and a vibrant knowledge sharing community has made Telegram the go-to test prep center for government jobs in India-2
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Work Update: I've joined
@restofworld
as a reporter-researcher. Really looking forward to working with the supremely talented team
If you are an entrepreneur, VC or technologist working in India or South Asia let's talk at nilesh
@restofworld
.org
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I am honored to be part of this illustrious Nieman class of 2025
I will be spending some time at Harvard University this fall researching on AI-generated content, & how U.S. newsrooms combat deepfakes in politics. This builds on my current work covering AI in Indian elections
Meet the new class! We’re pleased to introduce the 2025 Nieman Fellows, 24 talented and innovative journalists who cover stories around the world. They’ll join us at
@Harvard
this fall to learn, collaborate and share their expertise. Welcome to all.
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1/4 This month marks the one year anniversary for me as a freelance journalist. A year ago, the newsroom I worked for mismanaged their finances and abruptly shutdown about three months after I was hired. I was crestfallen
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The wild story of a gun-wielding political thug who once fired rifles inside polling booths and has now reinvented himself as a tech founder creating AI clones of politicians for 2024 India election. For
@WIRED
,
@VarshaaBansal
and I profile the poster boy of political deepfakes &
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You helped this confused kid find his footing in journalism
@tvmahalingam
. Found humour in everything & changed my life for the better without trying
"You are the son I never had," you said, & my life won't be the same without you
Thank you. Rest easy now, I'll make you proud💪
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We asked two Indian students — one in
#Kashmir
& the other in Tamil Nadu — under lockdown and record their screens downloading the same assignment
This is what online education with 2G internet looks like👇
Story w/t
@VarshaaBansal
for
@restofworld
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NEW: Open-source intelligence has mostly been used to hold the powerful accountable, as in the Russian invasion of Ukraine; in India it's being co-opted to target Modi's critics
My latest✍️on the rise of India's right-wing
#OSINT
accounts & its impact
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In today’s
@WIRED
magazine,
@VarshaaBansal
and I delve into the world of India’s election
Our investigation uncovered a slew of AI-driven tactics reshaping political outreach. Here are 8 audio/video AI campaign artifacts used in the 2024 Indian elections ⬇️
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The YouTube Village
How a YouTube channel transformed a remote village in Bangladesh, spurring a new economy in Shimulia employing 50 villagers & feeding thousands
@FaisalM08083126
and I profiled the rise of this $3 million cooking empire 🧵
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India’s election was ripe for a crisis of AI misinformation. It didn’t happen. So, what did?
Read my
@TheAtlantic
essay to discover what unfolded, and the lessons it holds for the U.S. elections
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Personal news: Excited to begin the new year with a new assignment - covering technology and internet culture in India for
@factordaily
. If you have any tips and ideas for covering deep-technology stories my DM is open. Alternatively, drop a line at nilesh
@factordaily
.com.
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NEW: Over $2 billion in investments from China are currently held up in India’s slow approval process
I trace the undoing of the Indo-China tech relations through personal stories of four people — 2 VCs, 1 entrepreneur & 1 media executive
@restofworld
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Turning Phones To Bricks
Indian lenders are cozying up to the idea of offering phones on loans to working-class people but remotely shut it down if they fall behind on payments
This method of "collateralizing smartphones" has unintended consequence 🧵
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We have an internet mystery story!
An account by the name "Your Mom Is Dead" is systematically editing one of the world's largest open source maps in China's favour
@telliotter
and I examine this case & the history of online cartographic warefare
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The raddest woman I've interviewed thus far. Enjoyed chatting with EFF’s Eva
@evacide
who fights for digital rights of journalists and activists by protecting them from nation-state cyber espionage. Article coming up with tips for journos to stay safe online
#Nullcon2018
#EFF
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Some news🚨After 3+ years with
@restofworld
, shaping the South Asia bureau, I'm diving back into the freelance world
If you are looking for a reporter with the skills to pull off character-led longform narrative journalism, I would love to talk
My work:
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I debuted as a talking head on television yesterday. I'm glad the piece has kickstarted a conversation on the ethical use of deepfakes in election campaigns. It's less about the party that used it & more about being aware of what's possible
Story:
.
@OnReality_Check
| Deepfake videos in Delhi elections?
“Initially they (firm that created the video) said it was a partnership they were having with BJP and it was a trial of two videos to reach a larger Haryanvi-speaking audience.”: Nilesh Christopher, technology journalist.
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Dead Indian politicians are being resurrected using AI ahead of elections
For
@AJEnglish
, I wrote about the ethics of using AI to revive dead politicians for political gains. It's part of a broader $60 million AI-driven content marketing surge ahead of 2024 elections
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In May, I traveled to Sri Lanka to meet
@TeamWatchDog
— a small group of factcheckers countering state propaganda & unpacking the truth of the ongoing crisis using public data & open-source research
Meet Sri Lanka's answer to Bellingcat — for
@restofworld
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Apple and Foxconn lobbied India to relax its labor laws. Unions are fighting back — for
@restofworld
The pushback against enforcing business-friendly labor laws lays bare the issues in establishing India as an alternative electronics manufacturing center
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Exclusive: Teens in small-town India made thousands of dollars off of YouTube Shorts. Then, YouTube went after them for violating its rules 🧵
For
@restofworld
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How India's tech sector reinforces old caste divides
“My teammates tolerate me, but I will never be one of them” Excellent piece by
@Raksha_Kumar
.
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NEW from me: How Indian is an Indian Phone? 🧵
Faced with a nationalist backlash, Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has rebranded itself as local. For
@restofworld
I dug into Xiaomi's origins & the unusual autonomy enjoyed by its India head
@manukumarjain
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Malayalam sensation
#minnalmurali
which made it to Netflix’s Global Top 10 was translated in just 48 hours!
The streaming boom has created a gold rush for translation, but has led to crazy deadlines, infighting & severe rate cuts.
@decka227
& I report🧵
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Scoop: In a first, official social media accounts of India's national parties, BJP & Congress have begun sharing AI-created content, without disclosures — challenging Instagram & YouTube's content policies on labelling deceptive political content
My latest for
@AJEnglish
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Instagram boosts Modi AI image ads ahead of elections, raising questions on AI disclosure
An
@AJEnglish
review found Instagram boosted 50 political ads with AI images of Modi without sufficient disclosures, showing gaps in the enforcement of its AI policies
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3/4 I'm glad to share that my work has been published in 5 international publications, I made my debut on national TV for a story break, been a speaker at 2 reputed forums including NIPFP & have managed to pay bills.
Trust your judgement. Eschew assholes. Embrace challenge
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Chinese phone maker Xiaomi is the biggest smartphone brand in India. Caught in the blowback from a deadly border dispute it has rebranded itself as Indian
Read about nationalism & corporate identity in Modi's India — for
@restofworld
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NEW: How Amazon gamifies gig work in India
The "Delivery Premier League", modeled after the cricket league, is engineered to boost productivity of part-time workers during Diwali sales. Each hour spent delivering packages constitutes a “run”
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He is the man CP Gurnani called up when Chairman of Tech M, Anand Mahindra first tweeted about a
#blockchain
-enabled social media. Who is Abhishek Pitti? What made his startup the largest Indian ICO raising $40 Mn?
@venkatananth
and I report
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Six things you need to become a certified tech bro in India
Here is
@restofworld
's starter kit for fitting in the Bengaluru tech scene. Let me know if I've missed anything.
Bouquets, brickbats welcome!
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Thrilled to learn our months-long reporting on Foxconn's struggle in producing iPhones in India was awarded best business feature by
@SABEW
(small division)
It was a phenomenal experience reporting alongside the formidable
@violazhouyi
, whose work ethic pushed me to do more. It
@SABEW
selected Inside Foxconn’s struggle to make iPhones in India, written by
@violazhouyi
and
@NilChristopher
, as the winner of its award for Feature (small division).
Read it here
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AI Modi singing Bollywood hits on Instagram has everyone laughing🎵
But behind the scenes, there's a tech shift in politics: companies now offer personalized AI voice messages from politicians to grassroots workers on WhatsApp — my latest for
@restofworld
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My latest for
@AJEnglish
: I dug into how Indian political parties BJP & Congress created and shared AI content on official handles, without explicit disclosures
Forensic tests reveal 3 cases of AI-altered content on INC & BJP's Instagram since Feb 20 🧵
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But this boom also created a robust scamming industry where some of them have found innovative ways to dupe customers
The most popular trick: Kabootar scam, named after the Urdu word for pigeon
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An Indian politician says scandalous audio clips are AI deepfakes. We had them tested
The emergence of AI has given rise to the 'liar's dividend' phenomenon — the ability of influential figures to plausibly deny incriminating footage
We are seeing more🧵
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The revolt against Zomato
Ahead of the company’s $1.3 billion IPO, restaurants want to reduce the "unhealthy dependency" on aggregators and are urging diners to
#orderdirect
@restofworld
@NRAI_India
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THE GIG WORKER INDEX
@restofworld
surveyed ~5,000 gig workers in 15 countries to compare experiences of platform work worldwide. If you're an entrepreneur, researcher or anyone interested in gig work in the global south, you wouldn't want to miss this👇
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Many thanks to
@onewm
for the honor of being longlisted for the New Voice Award, and for recognizing my contributions over the past year. Humbled to be among such great company.
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If you care about global tech, you should pay attention to South Asia. Sign up for our new, twice-monthly newsletter that will take you beyond the headlines from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and beyond
First issue hits inboxes on October 20
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The cost of convenience for such hyper-fast deliveries is invariably borne by delivery workers
Is there an actual need for a 20 minute delivery!?
Dunzo says it will deliver essentials in 19 minutes in Bengaluru
Grofers yday unveiled their 10 min delivery ambition while Swiggy s Instamart is delivering in 15-30 minutes.
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Many of these scam plans are hashed out on FB groups with thousands of members
We spoke to Sayan Ali, a kabootar scammer who was scammed in the process of orcherstrating a scam👇
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Give 2 hours of your voice samples to this Bengaluru startup and they can clone your voice to say anything. The resulting AI-synthesised voice is unreal. Read this fascinating story by
@murali_anand
that could be the perfect plot for a Black Mirror episode
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In May 2021, Amazon fulfilled a long-standing demand of Pakistani businesses by allowing sellers from the country to list their wares on its platform.
Within a year, Pakistan ranked third among countries that registered the most number of sellers, behind only the U.S. and China
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Sources: PUBG Mobile has been clocking an average $7-8 million a month since May in India by selling virtual clothing items like jackets, mini-skirts & gun skins for real money in a country not known to shell out cash for games.
Can it sustain?👇
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Just as Amazon continues its crackdown, a number of scammers have redirected their energies toward Walmart drop-shipping
Scamsters have changed the names of their pages & groups from Amazon drop-shipping to Walmart drop-shipping
/Fin
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Inside the Pakistani city at the heart of Alibaba’s global expansion strategy
The story chronicles the lives & ambitions of traders in Sialkot, the world-class export hub that's home to 90% paid sellers on Alibaba. Dream collab —
@SiddiquiZuha
@megatobin1
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4/4 Also, here is my portfolio:
Recent stories:
I cover the intersection of technology, culture and human experience in India. My DMs are open.
If you have tips for me send them across: nileshchristopher5
@gmail
.com
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The Silent Rise of Chinese Giant YY Inc in India
YY has grown multifold w/t an app for every niche. The latest is Noizz,a deep fake app w/t 80 Mn+ downloads👇
It also has Bigo Live live-streaming, Likee for short videos, HAGO for gaming & IMO
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Most of these scams originate from two cities in Punjab: Mian Channu and Sahiwal. Residents have been unhappy about these areas getting a scammy reputation
Now, honest sellers face rigorous vetting, long delays, & difficulty in opening new accounts on
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On Sept 26, Zomato had tweaked its algorithm to extend the riders’ delivery radius from one to four zones. All of a sudden riders found themselves being sent to pickups and drop-offs up to 40 km away. The blue areas on this map are an example of one rider’s extended zones
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Australian cricketer
@davidwarner31
dancing to "Butta Bomma" on TikTok is quarantine content we all need!
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India's 550 million WhatsApp users are now flooded with boilerplate outreach from corporations, promoting products, deals, & discount coupons
The reason for corporate outreach becoming egregious over the past year can be traced back to a WhatsApp policy change in July 2020
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Other tricks, such as fake refunds, tax fraud, & scams with unique monikers like “carding” — the use of stolen credit card numbers to purchase gift cards to resell on Amazon — have also been afloat
Another popular fraud involves Sam's Club credit membership👇
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Why is viral AI image generator DALL.E mini obsessed with brown women in saris?
I set out to solve this mystery for
@restofworld
which even its creator couldn't explain. Read to find out.
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Meet the 'WhatsApp schools' of Lebanon by
@EliaHaber
After the catastrophic blast in Beirut this month, more than 55,000 students were left without classrooms. For them and many others, Lebanon’s “WhatsApp schools” are the only solution
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Help: A Bangalore startup has 3D printed faceshields to protect medical staff, but are unable to source laminates that can be fitted onto these👇Please reach out to founder
@MuddaKaushik
if you can help source laminates
Link to other parts being printed:
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I respectfully disagree with your characterisation, John
1/6 This piece is a fun, casual way of highlighting the quirks of the tech ecosystem that I inhabit. It isn't an attempt to "punch down".
FWIW, I'm a power user of CRED, Cult, & more. Call me "half a bro" if you will
Ironic to see a media outlet that’s funded entirely from ‘startup bro’ wealth (Eric Schmidt/Google) punch down on Bangalore, one of the world’s emerging startup hubs
We need more credible tech/biz media, especially outside of US, not more clickbait
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Hello world!
We've been working hard to bring you the best stories about the impact of technology on societies outside the Western world. Untold tech stories from places like Siberia, Sudan, Ecuador, Philippines, India and more
Sign up
@restofworld
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Most riders are frustrated because they are losing time and money, and are exhausted because of unilateral changes made without warning
This spilt over into a protest on Sept 30.
@restofworld
was at the protest side to document the claims
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Meet the Indian merchant waging war on Jeff Bezos
Praveen Khandelwal's political heritage, his grassroots crusade, & closeness to Modi's BJP made him an influential voice in the drive to unsettle Amazon. Now he's building his own e-market🧵
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The move is in line with with fashion retailers such as Zara, J.Crew, and Abercrombie & Fitch, among others, who are also adding a return fee of up to $7 in the U.S. Yet, Myntra's move to punish returners could be a bit "extreme"
@skycita
weighed in
Flipkart warning its users 👇
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Inside India's booming dark data economy
Cracker of a story from two of my favourite writers
@snigdhapoonam
and
@pysamarth
. Scary read on the emerging marketplace of private detectives working to capture and monetise your private data
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Twitter, I need your help in identifying social scientists/anthropologists who we can talk to for most of
@factordaily
's stories from the intersection of technology and its influence on culture in India. Please leave your suggestions in the comments. Will be really helpful.
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If you are one of those interested in understanding the class warfare currently happening between TikTok and YouTube this piece offers a lot to unpack. It covers the backstory to the rise of
#Carryminati
& the insult-heavy roast of thirsty TikTokers👇
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These few graphs paint a picture of the extent to which riders have to go to get their problems addressed, and enforce a roll back of an algorithmic change
Zomato refused to respond to queries sent by
@restofworld
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In 2021, I profiled Praveen Khandelwal
@praveendel
, a politically-connected showman leading 80M offline traders against Amazon
Now, he's a
@BJP4India
candidate for 2024 Lok Sabha Elections from Delhi's Chandni Chowk
Read about his colorful history👇
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NEW: Youth TikTok star
@Ajay_Barman_
known for his videos on Hindu-Muslim brotherhood claims to have been censored for political content, where TT has restricted the reach of his "risky" videos since the start of CAA protests in India
Link
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Meet India's MrBeast — selfless saint or fame-hungry vlogger?
I profiled Harsha Sai, the 24-year-old YouTuber megastar who turns charitable acts into grant spectacles. But Sai's success has raised questions about his wealth & intentions — for
@restofworld
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Riders using bicycles to deliver — who are known as cycle IDs — have suffered more than their colleagues using mopeds
When Arun joined Zomato, he was promised to not be set farther than 6 Km. Today he has to peddle his deliver unto 10 km.
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Riders are incentivized by the number of orders delivered in a day, rather than the distance covered per order
Rider Salman said being sent outside the city limits for delivery has halved the number of orders he’s able to take.
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Google Pay announcement [Thread]
Google launched a service that will let you buy, sell and invest in digital gold through their payments app Google Pay. GPay will be the latest payments app, after Paytm and PhonePe to offer gold accounts to their customers.
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🚨The first edition of
@restofworld
South Asia newsletter is out
• We compare gig work in India & Pakistan; & why SA is worse off
• Emergence of "accounting wizardry" amongst tech cos in Pakistan
• The crypto bug bites Bhutan
Read and subscribe 👇
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How a Secret BJP War Room Mobilized Female Voters to Win the Indian Elections
In April, we got access to a BJP war room & documented the efforts to use technology to identify women who could bring other women out to vote, offering a glimpse of the future of campaigning in India
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Month-long investigation found over 500 videos where users extol the virtues of specific castes and verbally attack local caste-leaders, triggering hate crimes. Most hate is directed toward Dalits -the lowest position in India’s Hindu class ladder that’s known as the caste system
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The only way to avoid regularly being sent progressively further away with each order is to turn off the app’s GPS at the distant zone, then turn it back on when returning to their home location. Riders work longer hours to make up for the time they lose in repositioning
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The definitive piece on the implosion of Pakistan's would-be unicorn Airlift by
@mehrnadeem3
for
@restofworld
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In India, about 25%–40% of clothes sold online are returned, which can be a third more than the apparel return rate in the U.S.
The cost of processing the returns eat into online retailers’ margins too much, prompting them to charge return fees in an attempt to boost profits
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When a reporter becomes a part of the story: There is a fleeting moment in this piece where I break the fourth wall and add my personal experience of doing engineering and then going to J-school only to find 12 out of 180 graduates were also engineers
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Quack doctor Biswaroop who's leading the anti-masker brigade is not an overnight phenomenon. He has built an expansive digital empire over 10 yrs through online nutrition training courses, certification programs, & consultancy services. His origin story👇
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Last year, we travelled across three Indian states to sketch the story of a new wave of video apps that hold up both a mirror and a megaphone to India’s cultural divisions. Read about the platforms representing communities once ignored by the upper classes
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It's
@restofworld
's first birthday!
We published 180 writers from around the world, and explored the impact of technology in 72 countries outside the western bubble. I’m incredibly proud of what our team has been able to accomplish.
Check it out👇
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This is really cool and you should check it out
From Filipino anime to a supernatural drama from Senegal this is
@restofworld
's curated set of movies & TV shows that you need to see from around the world
Bookmark. Watch. Share.
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In a first, gig workers in India have approached the judiciary seeking social security & employment benifits, which the platforms have denied for long
@restofworld
surveyed 5000 gig workers from across the world to understand the precarity of their work
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NEW: Facebook's language problem
For the latest edition of
@restofworld
South Asia newsletter, I talk to
@tattlemade
's Tarunima about the difficulty in spinning up AI hate speech classifiers for resource-poor languages Hindi, Sinhala, Tamil & others
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