Migrant caravans are organized–and scammed–via Facebook and WhatsApp

Every year, thousands of people try to emigrate to the U.S. Not only do they have to deal with border guards and bad weather, they must also decide who to trust. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

A fringe Japanese religion built a pro-Trump social media empire

Like Falun Gong, Happy Science has adopted American far-right ideology for its own gain. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Funding the Future at a Snail’s Pace

A startup bets on “move slow and break nothing.” If only funding would move a little faster. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

With the Kremlin’s blessing, Russian companies embrace biometric ambitions

As Kremlin-backed biometric programs roll out in Moscow, retailers are looking to make use of the technology. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

In MBS’s Saudi Arabia, tech, not oil, is the hot new thing

“My father is pushing my brothers — and even my sisters as well —to join startups.” | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Bitcoin’s most recent adopters are working-class migrants

If Latin American currencies can be just as volatile, why not jump on the crypto bandwagon? | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Bitcoin bro registered Argentina's Google domain and (literally) broke the net

Poor domain governance results in Argentina’s greatest digital heist of 2021. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Global South startups can do better than Silicon Valley

After years of chasing high-tech solutions, Grab found its greatest success copying the very systems it set out to replace. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Why people around the world are flocking to OnlyFans

During the pandemic, the subscription site known for explicit content exploded in popularity around the world. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Don't Pick Up: Missed calls in India

In the age of expensive data, missed calls became more than just a cheap way to communicate. But in India, technology moves faster than you’d think. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Young, Deported, and Learning to Code

The United States is deporting highly educated migrants, and offshoring companies have pounced at the opportunity. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

The mysterious user editing a global open-source map in China’s favor

Open-source tools underpin technology used by millions of people, but they’re also vulnerable to manipulation. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

A Hong Kong journalist is on trial for using a public database

The arrest of investigative reporter Bao Choy has implications for journalists, activists, lawyers, and investors. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Independent Russian journalists are thriving on YouTube - for now

With television networks full of government propaganda, YouTube is a vital platform for debate. But will the freedom last? | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

A coordinated online attack has forced some organizers behind Pakistan's Women's March into hiding

The country’s feminist movement, Aurat March, is used to backlash. This year was different. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

India’s cryptocurrency community braces for a sweeping ban

India wants to ban the ownership of cryptocurrency. Here’s how traders are reacting. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

TikTok is repeating all of Facebook’s mistakes in Myanmar

The social media platform is scrambling to take down threatening videos and misinformation posted by the Burmese military, but activists want to know why it wasn’t prepared. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Loans that hijack your phone – among the growing concern of digital lending

Lenders are turning to coercive “phones on loan” that shut down smartphones if customers fall behind on payments. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

The pandemic is giving tech leaders a shot at replacing teachers with technology

Latin America’s education sector has long been under economic threat. Founders see an opportunity. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Welcome to the Global WFH Diaspora

Remote working has freed tech workers to leave high-priced cities — and, in some cases, to move out of the U.S. altogether. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Why it’s so hard for a hospital in Tanzania to fix broken incubator

Medical device companies have used a range of tactics that have made independent repairs harder, with devastating consequences. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Israel’s lucrative–and secretive–cybersurveillance industry

A small but vocal group of Israelis say the country’s reputation for hacking products is a bad thing. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

How Line is fighting disinformation without sacrificing privacy

The company is proving private messaging platforms can do more to moderate harmful content. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Betting big with Zimbabwe's growing legion of foreign currency traders

Young Zimbabweans who have never known anything but hyperinflation are turning to forex currency trading to earn a living. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Young Koreans are echoing r/WallStreetBets in their war against short sellers

A generation fueled by pessimism is shunning conventional long-term investments in favor of high-risk bets. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

HaitiPay did everything right. It still got crushed

HaitiPay did everything by the book: It was innovative. It disrupted a market in dire need of its services. None of that mattered. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Asia’s booming online learning industry – Rest of World

For ed-tech giants like Yuanfudao and Byju’s, business is booming. But are students learning anything? | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Forget Tesla: Millions in China are embracing tiny off-brand competitors

Millions of people in China are buying off-brand electric cars, which are cheap, tiny, barely regulated, and extremely useful. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Koo became India’s Hindu nationalist–approved Twitter alternative

Aprameya Radhakrishna insists his app is apolitical, even if India’s right-wing party has driven its success. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Four Countries, One Clubhouse

Why the buzzy audio platform is taking off everywhere from Japan to Nigeria. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

In Myanmar, one blackout ends, another begins

Towns in Rakhine and Chin states have been without a network for 18 months. Then, the Tatmadaw turned the signal back on. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

The mysterious photo of a purple flower that receives 78M hits each day

How India’s TikTok ban may have inadvertently caused a random photo to become extremely popular. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 3 years ago

Southeast Asia’s hottest tech deal would devastate gig workers

If ride-hailing giants Grab and Gojek come together, the new quasi-monopoly would have little incentive to improve working conditions. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

Where the internet was delivered by a donkey

When Kyrgyzstan moved all education online during the pandemic, some remote schools were left behind. Connecting them meant delivering them an “internet in a box.” | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

How misinformation fueled a coup in Myanmar

After weeks of spreading lies about an election result, the Burmese military cut access to the internet, then took power. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

Covid-19 overwhelmed a leading group fighting disinformation online

Debunk EU found itself inundated with a flood of conspiracy theories. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

The house that Bitcoin built

For three years in the late 2010s, a hacker haven in Buenos Aires was home to the country’s crypto scene. Why did everything fall apart? | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

Iran’s biggest taxi app survived U.S. sanctions and app ban – Rest of World

After Google and Apple pulled its app, Snapp’s cabs came to a literal halt, but the company survives. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

Silicon Valley’s Double Standard

If social media platforms can silence the most powerful office in the world, why can’t they do the same for India’s anti-Muslim politicians? | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

China is home to a growing market for dubious “emotion recognition” technology

A new report says the tools have troubling implications for human rights. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

India has its own Donald Trumps, but they're still on Facebook and Twitter

If social media platforms can silence the most powerful office in the world, why can’t they do the same for India’s anti-Muslim politicians? | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

Telegram Has a Nazi Problem

Telegram was designed to help pro-democracy activists, but lax content rules have made it a go-to platform for extremists. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

The ten most pirated international movies

“Parasite,” “Peninsula,” “One Piece,” and “Ip Man” all feature. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

WhatsApp risks losing its most loyal customers: Indian uncles and aunties

A disastrous privacy policy rollout has Indian consumers up in arms. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

For foreign startups, all roads lead to Delaware

American VCs and foreign investors alike prefer their startups to be based in the tiny state. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

China wants to build an open source ecosystem to rival GitHub

With GitHub in the crosshairs of Chinese censors, Beijing is backing Gitee as its official hub, an open-source institution tailored for a closed internet. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

Where surveillance cameras work but the justice system doesn’t

On the evening of October 9, 2013, 50-year-old elementary school teacher Laura Ramírez was run over by a car and killed on Avenida Dr. José María Vertiz near downtown Mexico City. The vehicle fled the… | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago

Kunil Shah says Big Tech has India all wrong

Others come to India for the “next billion” users. Shah’s new app caters to the 1%. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 4 years ago