Blog posts
3108 items
- Unrecognised and Vulnerable: Reviewing social protection instruments for platform workers
In this issue brief, Chetna V M and Chiara Furtado reflect on developments in social protection for platform workers in India, issues of exclusions and insufficient coverage for workers, and tensions between existing social protection …
- How Concentration Kills Innovation: A Round Table on Investing and Innovating in the Age of Big Tech
We are at the cusp of pivotal technological transformation – driven by rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence, computing, robotics, biotechnology, and digital infrastructure, including the next generation of communication …
- Mapping the Legal and Regulatory Frameworks of the Ad-Tech Ecosystem in India
The main purpose of regulations in any sector is essentially twofold, one is to ensure that the interests of the general public or consumers are protected, and the other is to ensure that the sector itself flourishes and grows. Too much …
- Emotional Contagion: Theorising the Role of Affect in COVID-19 Information Disorder
In this paper, we investigate the underexplored emotional drivers of information disorder, with a particular focus on how it manifested in COVID-19 misinformation in India. While "fake news" has received considerable attention for its …
- Whose Technology is it Anyway? An exploratory essay on the political economy of India's digital revolution
The story of India's digital journey has become an oft-cited tale of economic success across the globe, inspiring similar experiments in other nations in the Global Majority world - most prominently across sub-Saharan Africa. At home, …
- Emotional Contagion: Theorising the Role of Affect in COVID-19 Information Disorder
In this paper, we investigate the underexplored emotional drivers of information disorder, with a particular focus on how it manifested in COVID-19 misinformation in India. While "fake news" has received considerable attention for its …
- Emotional Contagion: Theorising the Role of Affect in COVID-19 Information Disorder
In this paper, we investigate the underexplored emotional drivers of information disorder, with a particular focus on how it manifested in COVID-19 misinformation in India. While "fake news" has received considerable attention for its …
- Navigating the Digitalisation of Finance: User experiences of risks and harms
Our study unpacks the experiences of marginalised users navigating the digitalisation of finance. Through a survey of 3,784 users, 18 interviews and 7 focus group discussions, our study’s findings highlight user experiences of risks and …
- The Cost of Free Basics in India: Does Facebook's 'walled garden' reduce or reinforce digital inequalities?
In this essay—written in April 2016 soon after India's Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) upheld net neutrality and effectively banned Free Basics in India— the author uses development theories to study the Free Basics programme. The …
- State of Openness in India's E-Governance Applications
Open source software (OSS), also commonly known as free and open source software (FOSS) or free libre open source software (FLOSS), is software that is made available with its source code. It is licensed liberally, granting users access to …
- Education, Epistemologies and AI: Understanding the role of Generative AI in Education
As generative AI becomes more deeply embedded in educational contexts, it raises critical questions about trust, epistemic reliability, and the nature of knowledge production. While AI offers significant opportunities for enhancing …
- The Centre for Internet and Society’s comments and recommendations to the: Report on AI Governance Guidelines Development
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) submitted its comments and recommendations on the Report on AI Governance Guidelines Development.
- The Centre for Internet and Society’s comments and feedback to the: Digital Personal Data Protection Rules 2025
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) submitted its comments and feedback to the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules 2025 initiated by the Indian government.
- She Leads Bootcamp 2025
CIS-A2K is committed to bridging the gender gap within Indian Wikimedia communities, and to further this goal, last year we launched the impactful She Leads program. This initiative is designed to empower female Wikimedians to take on …
- Submission to IGF 2025 Call for Thematic Inputs
Below are CIS's inputs submitted in response to the IGF 2025 Call for Thematic Inputs. They will inform the MAG’s discussions and assist them in determining the thematic priorities of the IGF 2025 programme.
- Do We Need a Separate Health Data Law in India?
This report discusses the current definitions of health data including international efforts, the report then proceeds to share some key themes that were discussed at three roundtables we conducted in May, August, and October 2024. …
- Bahujan Digital Publishing Infrastructures
In this study, we look at alternative Bahujan digital publishing as sites where Bahujans can claim media representation and how a vision of an anti-caste internet is emerging through these publishing practices.
- Privacy Policy Framework for Indian Mental Health Apps
This report analyses the privacy policies of mental health apps in India and provides recommendations for making the policies not only legally compliant but also user-centric
- CIS Research Digest - 2024
Read ahead for a summary of the in-depth research and analysis published by CIS in 2024.
- Explainer | Predatory Pricing
Who doesn't love discounts? After all, that is what got so many of us on the internet for the first time. And yet, earlier this year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, in its draft Digital Competition Bill, mentioned 'Pricing/Deep …
- Technology-facilitated Gender-based Violence and Women’s Political Participation in India: A Position Paper
- AI for Healthcare: Understanding Data Supply Chain and Auditability in India
This report aims to understand the prevalence and use of AI auditing practices in the healthcare sector. By mapping the data supply chain underlying AI technologies, the study aims to unpack i) how AI systems are developed and deployed to …
- Digital Rights and ISP Accountability in India: An Analysis of Policies and Practices
This report presents a comprehensive evaluation of India's four largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs)—Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea (Vi), and BSNL—examining their commitment to digital rights and transparency.
- Explainer | Tying and Bundling
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs released the draft Digital Competition Bill for public comment. Although much has been written about the ex-ante process it proposes, there is little discussion of the nine …
- Platforming precarity: Data narratives of workers sustaining urban platform services
CIS conducted quantitative surveys with over 800 workers employed in the app-based taxi and delivery sectors across 4 cities in India as part of the ‘Labour Futures’ project supported by the Internet Society Foundation. The surveys covered …
- Envisioning the Role of Open Knowledge in the Implementation of the National Education Policy 2020
The National Education Policy 2020 brings a significant change in India's educational landscape, representing a comprehensive overhaul to address the evolving developmental imperatives of the country.
- Online Censorship: Perspectives From Content Creators and Comparative Law on Section 69A of the Information Technology Act
This study presents a comparative analysis of Indian censorship law and experiences of people who have had their online content censored.
- Gig and platform workers’ perspectives on worker collectives
This report highlights findings from a survey conducted by the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union on platform workers’ perspectives around various worker collectives, particularly platform worker unions and cooperative societies. The …
- Future of the Commons: A Conversation on Artificial Intelligence, Indian Languages, and Archives Conference Report
We are pleased to share our report on the ‘Future of the Commons: A Conversation on Artificial Intelligence, Indian Languages, and Archives’ conference, held in July 2024 at the Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL) in Pune.
- Combinations and Competition: Why the draft DCB must account for digital mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and Acquisitions (collectively, M&As or Combinations) have been a common practice in industry consolidation for many years now. In fact, as Zuckerberg’s infamous quote suggests, it might be one of the central pillars of today’s …