What’s trending on Spotify in Africa?

Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy talks about the most surprising user behavior on the music streaming app. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Indonesia rushed out a vote-counting app for this year’s election. It did not go well

Tabulation discrepancies were blamed on technical issues within the app, which many say was launched without enough testing. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Rest of World’s 2024 reading guide

Global tech leaders share 12 books to add to your must-read pile. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Who’s actually using Threads? Young protesters in Taiwan

Despite Meta’s promise to crack down on political content in the app, Taiwanese activists are using it to organize. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Fake news verification tools fail the test during elections in India

Rest of World tested 11 leading WhatsApp-based chatbots that promise to help Indian voters identify misinformation. There were long delays and inconsistencies in responses even for content that can easily be identified as AI-generated and fake. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

This Instagram star might soon be mayor of one of Mexico’s wealthiest cities

As Mariana Rodríguez campaigns around the clock on Instagram, electoral authorities are wondering how to regulate influencers-turned-politicians. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Brazil’s flood disaster set off a torrent of AI misinformation

Platforms like Instagram and Facebook are failing an early test of misinformation safeguards. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Glovo promised Nigerian delivery riders health insurance, then refused to pay up

More than 100 Glovo delivery riders took to the streets of Lagos to protest the company’s unreliable insurance policy. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

The entrepreneur trying to make thrifting truly eco-friendly with AI

Nofal Khan is the co-founder and CEO of Swag Kicks, one of Pakistan’s largest online thrift platforms. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Indonesia has more than 700 languages. Can AI save them?

Most LLMs such as GPT, Llama, and Gemini are trained largely in English, but several Southeast Asian firms are focusing on Bahasa Indonesia and other regional languages. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Aches, pains, and no health insurance for aging gig workers

Pakistan has one of the youngest populations in the world, which means older gig workers are seldom the focus of platform policies. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Rideshare work attracts older drivers. Older drivers attract criminals

With crime statistics already high in South Africa, older gig workers find themselves easy targets for theft, hijackings, and attacks. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

When you’re a clickworker, no one knows you’re old

Venezuelans who have struggled against age discrimination and hyperinflation have found a lifeline in online gig work. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

They need jobs. Gig work apps say they’re too old

For some older workers, gig platforms are a lifeline. But at a certain age, they get the boot. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

The graying gig economy

Rest of World spoke to 50 older workers around the world who see gig work as a lifeline — or a last resort. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

What we learned in a year of reporting on labor and technology

Rest of World’s four Labor x Tech fellows reflect on their year reporting about the global tech industry’s impact on its workers. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

The company making Mexico’s EV charging stations compatible with Chinese cars

Vemo is investing in charging infrastructure for BYD and other Chinese EV companies. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Meet the “digital parents” giving millions in China a vision of family love they never had

Creators Jiang Xiuping and Pan Huqian, a viral Douyin duo, act as fictional parents, providing solace to young adults and adolescents amidst economic inequalities and a scarcity of mental health support in China. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

OpenAI is making a risky bet on live translation

The company has a stunning demo — but can the product live up to the hype? | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Rwanda’s homegrown EV leader sets its sights on Kenya

Ampersand hopes to replicate its small-market success in East Africa’s largest economy. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Inside the BJP’s WhatsApp machine

An analysis of thousands of messages reveals how India’s ruling party uses the app to campaign free from public scrutiny. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

The Chinese founder who is betting on the Western appetite for short soaps

Mega Matrix and FlexTV want to succeed where Quibi has failed by embracing the allure of “so bad it’s good” shows. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Women are leading the charge for gig worker rights in Thailand

Having overcome fierce discrimination, the movement’s leaders have taken on delivery and rideshare platforms, and won. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Jumia Food delivery workers’ final payments are still missing

Jumia says it paid its logistics partners. Logistics partners say they paid all the workers. The workers say they haven’t been paid. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Why Southeast Asia became a spyware hotspot

A new Amnesty International report raises difficult questions. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Mexico is in a crisis. Political candidates are busy dancing on TikTok 

Amid a critical election season, digital campaign strategies amount to chasing memes and sharing cringey dance moves rather than seriously engaging on policy. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Writers and publishers in Singapore reject a government plan to train AI on their work

Singapore's literary community is pushing back against an official effort to train LLMs using their published works, part of a growing global resistance. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Meet the alliance helping Google and Meta fight election-related misinformation in India

The Misinformation Combat Alliance, set up by Bharat Gupta, includes 12 fact-checking organizations. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Despite international hires, TikTok is Chinese at its core

Rest of World spoke to more than a dozen employees who said that TikTok remains answerable to ByteDance rather than its international leadership. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Indians who pre-ordered Teslas in 2016 are giving up and chasing refunds

Elon Musk dodged another India visit, and many who placed $1,000 Tesla deposits admit the dream is over, while fanboys keep the faith. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Indian politicians are bringing the dead on the campaign trail, with help from AI

Digital rights activists have questioned the ethics of using “soft fakes” to resurrect the past and manage the future. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

WhatsApp gives India an ultimatum on encryption

Tracing the origins of messages is more complicated than it sounds. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Argentines are recruiting friends, strangers into Worldcoin’s cash-for-eyeballs scheme

With inflation and unemployment gripping the nation, a burgeoning network of intermediaries is convincing people to have their irises scanned at Worldcoin Orb centers. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

The co-founder of India’s largest crypto exchange says building trust among users is most valuable

CoinSwitch’s Ashish Singhal wants to level the playing field between virtual and capital assets. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

The booming business of AI war rooms during India’s elections

Get to know the AI content startups cashing in as Indian political parties pour millions into tech-driven campaigns. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

African universities are failing to prepare tech graduates for jobs in AI

Dozens of new AI training startups are filling the gap, offering online courses, hackathons, and job placement help. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

The TikTok ban is bigger than just ByteDance

The U.S. clampdown on Chinese-owned companies won't end here. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Singapore’s EV challenge: High prices and high-rises

The country’s new EV push is clashing with long-standing policies to discourage car ownership in general. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Why IBM employees in Brazil are suing to be classified as tech workers

Unions in two Brazilian states are suing IBM in an effort to be recognized as tech employees, giving them access to better wages, benefits, and profit participation. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

2023 Impact Report

The global reach and impact of our journalism in 2023 | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

TSMC’s debacle in the American desert

Missed deadlines and tension among Taiwanese and American coworkers are plaguing the chip giant’s Phoenix expansion. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

What it takes to raise a $300 million VC fund for Africa

Tidjane Deme talks about convincing investors to back Africa-focused tech funds amid a global funding slump. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Why African tech companies are ditching Google for a small Indian competitor

Zoho has positioned itself as a cheaper alternative to Google and Microsoft, attracting the attention of African startup founders. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Indonesia taps influencers to convince people to move to its new, under-construction capital

Social media stars are downplaying fears of deforestation and boredom in Nusantara. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

The regional flavors of labor-on-demand

A new report digs into the social dynamics of gig work. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

Bangladesh built a tech park for 100,000 workers. Now it’s a ghost town

The facility was partly funded by the World Bank and touted to become the country’s “cyber capital.” | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

How RRR’s success brought a wave of Telugu-language movies to Netflix

Netflix in the U.S. now has more content in Telugu than in German, Russian, or any dialect of Chinese. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago

AI “deathbots” are helping people in China grieve

Avatars of deceased relatives are increasingly popular for consoling those in mourning, or hiding the deaths of loved ones from children. | Continue reading


@restofworld.org | 2 years ago