South Asia

Is technology neutral or is coding political? In this article Smarika Kumar explores how algorithms work in the real world, and how they are a reflection of existing biases and forms of exclusion and discrimination in society.

The rise of dating apps allows women to take control of their social life and their choices. In this article Hija Kamran speaks to many women in Pakistan about their experience of online dating, both good and bad, whether it allows for challenging of conservative social norms or it leaves women vulnerable to abuse and other risks.

Since its passage, the Rural Employment Act of India guaranteed employment for millions of women in the country. But to promote digitisation in the country, the introduction of two recent changes in the Act have led to creating challenges for the workers in marking attendance and getting fair wage.

Privacy in India has always been regarded as unnecessary for women and young girls - more for those from religious minority groups. But women and gender and sexual minorities have found ways to exercise their right to privacy within and outside their homes. Digital privacy is an extension of them carving their way to demand this constitutionally protected right.

The internet has given a space for self-expression to Pakistani LGBTQIA+ people. Where there are risks of being targeted as a result of this visibility, many young queer folks are finding a sense of community through the expression of those around them.

The overregulation of women and gender diverse folks' bodies in South Asian culture has found its way in online spaces and heavily polices how bodily autonomy is expressed and regarded. Seerat Khan discusses barriers to this autonomy and its impacts on self-expression.

The transgender community in Pakistan has constantly been subjected to persecution and violence hindering their participation in 'normal' life. This violence has increasingly been mirrored into digital world leading to plethora of hashtag campaigns initiated to damage the struggles of the community.

As sex continues to be a taboo in Pakistan's conservative society, men form their understanding of what it looks like from unrealistic pornographic content, leading to direct impact on women and their pleasure in real life. Salwa Rana speaks to women to explore this impact.

Lack of formal and digital literacy hinders South Asian women's access to credible healthcare related information, forcing them to live with illnesses that never get treated. Anmol Irfan discusses the impact of this barrier.

As the Taliban government took over Afghanistan in 2021, the already limited space for women and LGBTQI+ folks started to shrink even more. The effects were visible not only in public offline spaces, but very clearly on the internet as well, as members of the Taliban surveilled on people through their social media activities, and subjected them to physical violence. Artemis Akbary speaks to…