The Best of Rest of World
20+ most popular Rest of World articles, as voted by our community.
Trending
These are currently making the rounds on Refind.
How governments are using facial recognition to crack down on protesters
Mass protests used to offer a degree of safety in numbers. Facial recognition technology changes the equation.
Rest of World on Anime
AI-generated art sparks furious backlash from Japan’s anime community
Dall-E might be the hot new thing, but outside Silicon Valley, fear and outrage are ramping up.
Rest of World on Business
Inside three turbulent months at Foxconn’s iPhone factory
Workers describe a peak production season marred by labor protests and Covid-19 chaos, right as Apple reconsiders its China supply chain.
Meet the most powerful Uber driver in India
Shaik Salauddin: the Indian driver-turned-union leader who is brushing shoulders with top politicians and giving ride-hailing firms a run for their money.
Rest of World on Digital Life
How China took over the world’s online shopping carts
Chinese e-commerce platforms like Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop are going global with big ambitions.
In the dark: the internet sparked a revolution, then it was turned off
Seven years, 60 countries, 935 internet shutdowns: How authoritarian regimes found an off switch for dissent.
Rest of World on Energy Transition
The dirty road to clean energy: how China’s electric vehicle boom is ravaging the environment
In neighboring Indonesia, nickel extraction is causing environmental and social devastation.
Rest of World on India
Welcome to the Ambaniverse: How one billionaire dominates every aspect of life in India
From food to gadgets to sports, explore how the business empire of one of the world’s richest men touches the everyday lives of millions in India.
India’s religious AI chatbots are speaking in the voice of god — and condoning violence
Claiming wisdom based on the Bhagavad Gita, the bots frequently go way off script.
Rest of World on Technology
Inside Foxconn’s struggle to make iPhones in India
Chinese engineers are flying to India to train the next generation of iPhone builders.
The exclusive network behind India’s global tech success
How IIT school degrees became a fast track to tech royalty.
Rest of World on Tiktok
What the U.S. can learn from India’s TikTok ban
A permanent split with Chinese apps was less disruptive than many expected.
Ideas | She drew millions of TikTok followers selling a fantasy of rural China. Politics intervened
Li Ziqi’s fans span from the U.S. to Bangladesh. But behind the camera, she is just another player in China’s platform economy.
Popular
These are some all-time favorites with Refind users.
Singapore’s tech-utopia dream is turning into a surveillance state nightmare
In the “smart nation,” robot dogs enforce social distancing and an app can claim to neutralize racism. The reality is very different.
«It has a global reputation as one of the safest cities in the world, but Singapore’s national narrative is one of profound and enduring insecurity.»
Inside the global gig economy of werewolf erotica
Platforms are hiring gig workers around the world to write steamy romance novels for English-speaking readers.
Meet the people fighting to keep a language alive online
For decades, it was nearly impossible to type in Urdu. Some are working to bring the script into a digital future.
«of the more than 7,000 languages used around the world — 2,500 of which are considered endangered — less than 5% were becoming fully functioning languages in the online realm. The expansion of the internet, in other words, is precipitating a massive linguistic extinction. »
Why Silicon Valley’s biggest AI developers are hiring poets
Training data companies are grabbing writers of fiction, drama, poetry, and also general humanities experts to improve AI creative writing.
When digital nomads come to town
Cities from Canggu to Medellín are welcoming tech workers, but locals complain they’re being priced out.
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Rest of World on Social Media
The mysterious reappearance of China’s missing mega-influencer
When China’s top livestreaming salesman, Austin Li, vanished over a tank-shaped ice cream cake, many fans thought he was gone for good.
The company teaching influencers how to get rich without going viral
Hotmart is quietly turning even micro-influencers into millionaires.