Programme
Researchers at Work
Interdisciplinary research on the internet and digital media. 556 items.
31 May 2025
Blog post
Unrecognised and Vulnerable: Reviewing social protection instruments for platform workersIn 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 …
29 Apr 2025
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How Concentration Kills Innovation: A Round Table on Investing and Innovating in the Age of Big TechWe 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 …
11 Apr 2025
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Whose Technology is it Anyway? An exploratory essay on the political economy of India's digital revolutionThe 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, …
8 Apr 2025
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Navigating the Digitalisation of Finance: User experiences of risks and harmsOur 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 …
19 Jan 2025
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Bahujan Digital Publishing InfrastructuresIn 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.
23 Dec 2024
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Explainer | Predatory PricingWho 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 …
29 Nov 2024
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AI for Healthcare: Understanding Data Supply Chain and Auditability in IndiaThis 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 …
16 Oct 2024
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Explainer | Tying and BundlingEarlier 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 …
15 Oct 2024
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Platforming precarity: Data narratives of workers sustaining urban platform servicesCIS 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 …
13 Aug 2024
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Gig and platform workers’ perspectives on worker collectivesThis 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 …
6 Aug 2024
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Future of the Commons: A Conversation on Artificial Intelligence, Indian Languages, and Archives Conference ReportWe 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.
5 Aug 2024
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Combinations and Competition: Why the draft DCB must account for digital mergers and acquisitionsMergers 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 …
8 Jul 2024
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Karnataka’s uniform fare policy—Do attempts at parity consider the impact on workers?Chiara Furtado and Nishkala Sekhar write in The News Minute about the Karnataka transport department’s February 2024 fare policy aiming for parity between aggregator (app-based) and other taxis. While policy interventions towards parity is …
16 May 2024
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‘Future of work’ or 21st–century oppressed labour?: Findings from an AIGWU survey with 50 Urban Company housekeeping workers in Bengalurun this essay, Nihira Ram shares findings from a survey done by the All India Gig Workers Union with more than 50 migrant workers living in a slum in Bengaluru. The workers primarily provided cleaning and domestic services on the platform, …
24 Apr 2024
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That Is Not A Livelihood – That Is Helplessness”: Field notes from the Fraazo Delivery Workers Strike in Noida, Greater Noida, and GhaziabadIn this essay, Rikta Krishnaswamy of the All India Gig Workers’ Union (AIGWU) narrates her experiences of organising and supporting delivery workers’ collective action against Fraazo (a now-defunct platform for produce and grocery …
18 Apr 2024
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The Platform Economy’s Gatekeeping of Class and Caste Dominance in Urban IndiaAmbika Tandon and Aayush Rathi contributed an essay on how gated society management apps like MyGate and NoBrokerHood feed on caste and income inequalities in new datafied forms. The essay features in The Formalization of Social …
11 Apr 2024
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Online Gender Based Violence on Short Form Video PlatformsAn inquiry into platform policies and safeguards. This report explores how short-form video platforms in India address online gender based violence (oGBV) by analysing their terms of service, community guidelines (CG), and reporting …
9 Apr 2024
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Digital Markets and India: Demystifying the Draft DCBThis document summarises the proceedings of the Roundtable on the draft Digital Competition Bill (DCB) [hereinafter referred to as ‘the Roundtable’]. The Roundtable was conducted online on April 1, 2024, and included representation from …
25 Mar 2024
Blog post
Understanding Feminist Infrastructures: An Exploratory Study of Online Feminist Content Creation Spaces in IndiaThis report explores the growth of feminist infrastructures (including the various interpretations of the term), through research on feminist publishing, content creation and curation spaces and how they have informed the contemporary …
15 Feb 2024
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Workers’ experiences in app-based taxi and delivery sectors: Key initial findings from multi-city quantitative surveysIn 2021-22, the labour research vertical at CIS conducted quantitative surveys with over 1,000 taxi and delivery workers employed in the app-based and offline sectors. The surveys covered key employment indicators, including earnings and …
30 Jan 2024
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Your economy, our livelihoods: A policy brief by the All India Gig Workers’ UnionIn this policy brief, the All India Gig Workers’ Union (AIGWU) presents its critique on NITI Aayog’s report on India’s platform economy. Through experiences from over 3 years of organising gig workers across India, they highlight fallacies …
22 Dec 2023
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Unpacking Algorithmic Infrastructures: Mapping the Data Supply Chain in the Healthcare Industry in IndiaThe Unpacking Algorithmic Infrastructures project, supported by a grant from the Notre Dame-IBM Tech Ethics Lab, aims to study the Al data supply chain infrastructure in healthcare in India, and aims to critically analyse auditing …
15 Dec 2023
Blog post
User Experiences of Digital Financial Risks and HarmsThe reach and use of digital financial services has risen in recent years without a commensurate increase in digital literacy and access. Through this project, supported by a grant from Google(.)org, we will examine the landscape of …
22 Oct 2023
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Strategies to Organise Platform WorkersIn 2022, the Centre for Internet and Society hosted a panel with Akkanut Wantanasombut, Ayoade Ibrahim, Rikta Krishnaswamy, and Sofía Scasserra at RightsCon, an annual summit on technology and human rights.
4 Jul 2023
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Labouring (on) the app: agency and organisation of work in the platform economyAmbika Tandon and Abhishek Sekharan published an academic paper highlighting the importance of women’s networks of information sharing and care in navigating opaque platform design. The paper is part of an issue of Gender and Development on …
3 Jul 2023
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Metaphors of Work, from ‘Below’Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon authored a chapter that describes platforms as more than technological interfaces. The chapter invokes some of the metaphors that gig workers use to make sense of platforms. This chapter was part of an edited …
3 Jul 2023
Blog post
Gender and collective bargaining in the platform economy: Experiences of on-demand beauty workers in IndiaAbhishek Sekharan, Chiara Furtado, and Ambika Tandon contributed an essay on gender and collective bargaining in the platform economy in India, reflecting on the experiences of women beauty workers who organised India’s first women-led …
13 Aug 2022
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Designing Domestic Work PlatformsThis research was conducted by The Center for Internet and Society (CIS) with funding from Association for Progressive Communication (APC) through the Feminist Internet Research Network (FIRN), supported by International Development …
26 Jul 2022
Blog post
Procurement Through Digital PlatformsProcurement policies, both public and private, can play a significant role in determining inclusive market participation, particularly for informal women workers and their collective enterprises.
8 Jul 2022
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Datafication of the Public Distribution System in IndiaIn this study, we look into the datafication of social protection schemes with a special focus on the Public Distribution System in India. Proponents of datafication claim that the benefits will reach the right person and curb leakages …