Tech-for-development – an app galore to solve the refugee crisis

This series of articles elucidates the consequences of what limited access to information and the ever-growing spread of misinformation have on the most vulnerable groups of the society. In this final blog post I will bring together the topics of my previous four blog posts. I will explore the concepts …

ICT4Bad: A Reflection on Critical ICT4D Discourse

According to Richard Heeks in Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), in ICT4D, technology “is used to help deliver on the international development agenda” (Heeks, 2017:18).  Such technologies, could provide added benefits or affordances to developing societies such as digital information and new forms of communication as well as …

Development and social change embedded as a part of ordinary social media use – What is the problem?

In the NMICT course, I wanted to address an important and much-discussed topic in communication for development, representations of development, but instead of analyzing its role within the field of development, to broaden my perspective on representations of development in society at large. This perspective allowed me to tie my …

Internet.org: Facebook’s approach to “connecting the world”

On the website of Internet.org, Facebook and its partners display their noble goals: Internet.org was founded to bring internet to all people, to connect them and to improve their lives by offering online access. But not all projects by internet.org are actually welcomed in the Global South.

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 …

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 …