Aadhaar India: When well-intentioned innovation marginalizes

This is the third article in a critical series on when well-intended ICTs and online platforms miss the mark in transforming society. This article discusses the case of India’s biometric ID system, Aadhaar, and it linkages to social services assistance delivery and data injustice.

Risky Networks Weekly Review – 18 October

This week, Elli addressed the topic of cancel culture on social media as a way to counter behavior contributing to inequalities and Richaela brought up a recent ICT failure as Uganda imposed a compulsory license for online publishing in addition to the existing tax for social media use.  Cancel Culture …

Uganda, Internet Death and Taxes

This is the second article in a critical series on when well-intended ICTs and online platforms miss the mark. It discusses a recent public notice in Uganda, which requires citizens to obtain “a license to post online,” which coupled with social media taxes further violates freedom of expression and access to information.

Cancel culture – The good, the bad and the ugly

In the previous articles, we have explored three different perspectives on the role of social media in (mis)representations of development: the risks of celebrity philanthropy, the white savior complex on Tinder, and sometimes problematic marketing of social enterprises. These new forms of manifestation of deeply rooted perceptions of development on social media are also being countered in a variety of ways. One concept that has risen in recent years but gained especially popularity in 2020 is “cancel culture”.

Risky Networks Weekly Review – 11 October 2020

This week Elli delved into the issues faced by social enterprises in social media marketing, Richaela presented an African feminist perspective on online gender-based violence, and Anna discussed the role of Facebook in pro-democracy protests in Thailand.   In Social enterprises – Balancing between target audiences and stakeholders, Elli considered …

A catalyst for good? – How Thai pro-democracy activists struggle with and benefit from Facebook

If you travel to Thailand as a tourist, you should know some basic rules. The probably most famous one: Don’t do or say anything that might seem to criticize the monarchy. The strict lèse-majesté law affects peoples’ lives and political changes in Thailand. And it affects the way people can communicate via Facebook.

Social enterprises – Balancing between target audiences and stakeholders

Despite its roots already in the 1970s, social entrepreneurship has become increasingly popular in the last thirty years, to the point of becoming a real buzzword today. Rather than a type of organization, social entrepreneurship refers to “the pursuit of an opportunity to create pattern-breaking social change regardless of the resources you currently control.”

Risky Networks Weekly Review – 2 October 2020

This week Ellimaija continues her series on the misrepresentations of development and social media platforms, Nina commences her series on the impact of limited access to information and misinformation on vulnerable groups and Anna again examines the role of Facebook in an crisis. In Humanitarians of Tinder – Gamification and …

Fighting the Infodemic: Facebook and the fake news on COVID-19

COVID-19 changed our lives. The virus entered the world, changed our working lives and our attitude towards physical closeness. For many of us, it turned the world upside down. The pandemic slowed down some parts of life but accelerated others. For example, efforts for digitalization suddenly got tail wind. Companies discovered the advantages of remote work and home office, online offers for education and leisure sprouted like mushrooms. And being quarantined, many people started spending even more time with Social Media than before. That shift from offline to online favored misinformation as well.