Research articles on DIVERSITY

Hidden inequalities: the gendered labour of women on micro-tasking platforms

Paola Tubaro, Université Paris-Saclay
Marion Coville, University of Poitiers
Clément Le Ludec, Institut Polytechnique de Paris
Antonio A. Casilli, Institut Polytechnique de Paris
PUBLISHED ON: 22 Feb 2022 DOI: 10.14763/2022.1.1623

Platform micro-work fails to fill the legacy gaps that separate women from rewarding tech careers, and maintains them in low-level roles.

Artificial emotional intelligence beyond East and West

Daniel White, University of Cambridge
Hirofumi Katsuno, Doshisha University
PUBLISHED ON: 11 Feb 2022 DOI: 10.14763/2022.1.1618

Artificial emotional intelligence refers to technologies that perform, recognise, or record affective states. More than merely a technological function, however, it is also a social process whereby cultural assumptions about what emotions are and how they are made are translated into composites of code, software, and mechanical platforms. This essay illustrates how aspects of cultural difference are both incorporated and elided in projects that equip machines with emotional intelligence.

Whiteness in and through data protection: an intersectional approach to anti-violence apps and #MeToo bots

Renee Shelby, Northwestern University
Jenna Imad Harb, Australian National University
Kathryn Henne, Australian National University
PUBLISHED ON: 7 Dec 2021 DOI: 10.14763/2021.4.1589

This analysis of digital technologies aimed at supporting survivors of sexual and gender-based violence illustrates how they reaffirm normative whiteness.

Counter-terrorism in Ethiopia: manufacturing insecurity, monopolizing speech

Téwodros W. Workneh, Kent State University
PUBLISHED ON: 31 Mar 2019 DOI: 10.14763/2019.1.1394

Several countries have adopted counter terrorism legal frameworks in the past two decades. By framing the Ethiopian Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009 as an extension of the ruling party’s neopatrimonial design, this article examines the law’s draconian effects on freedom of speech in Ethiopia’s digital sphere.

Zero rating has emerged as one of the most contentious communications policy debates of the last decade. The offer of ‘free’ access to select applications compromises network neutrality, at the same time as it can present advantages to users with limited economic resources. How can we attempt to reconcile these conflicting dimensions of zero rating?

WhatsApp in Brazil: mobilising voters through door-to-door and personal messages

Mauricio Moura, The George Washington University
Melissa R. Michelson, Menlo College
PUBLISHED ON: 31 Dec 2017 DOI: 10.14763/2017.4.775

The Brazilian 2014 elections were the first to heavily apply Whatsapp as a micro-targeting tool. This paper aims to test the effectiveness of Whatsapp compared to more traditional approaches. First, we find that short videos delivered via WhatsApp are a powerful method of increasing turnout among teen voters. Second, we add Brazil to the list of countries in which the traditional method of door-to-door canvassing has been proven a powerful method of mobilising voters.