Asia

Conservative Muslim influencers spread hate speech to their millions of followers on TikTok and YouTube, with little pushback from authorities or platforms.

Toyota and Isuzu have long dominated Thailand’s pickup truck market. As they prepare to launch EV trucks, they face competition from Chinese firms.

Local startups are working to digitize sari-sari shops, or convenience stores, which are a large part of the Philippine retail industry.

After a 50% increase in scams in 2023, Singapore authorities say Meta isn’t doing enough to stop the explosion in fraud.

A new broadcast bill imposes curbs on LGBTQIA content and other “negative” material, potentially hurting content creators and broadcasters in Indonesia.

Global funding in the cultured meat industry dropped by 75% in the last year. Singapore sees its chance to become a world leader, backing local and international firms.

As shoppers sour on Chinese fast fashion, more sustainable Vietnamese brands — loved by K-pop artists and Western celebrities alike — are booming online.

Though not officially sanctioned, the role-playing clergy encourage young people to go deeper into their faith while providing a safe space for queer Catholics.

Tabulation discrepancies were blamed on technical issues within the app, which many say was launched without enough testing.

Despite Meta’s promise to crack down on political content in the app, Taiwanese activists are using it to organize.

Most LLMs such as GPT, Llama, and Gemini are trained largely in English, but several Southeast Asian firms are focusing on Bahasa Indonesia and other regional languages.

For some older workers, gig platforms are a lifeline. But at a certain age, they get the boot.

Rest of World spoke to 50 older workers around the world who see gig work as a lifeline — or a last resort.

Having overcome fierce discrimination, the movement’s leaders have taken on delivery and rideshare platforms, and won.

A new Amnesty International report raises difficult questions.

Singapore's literary community is pushing back against an official effort to train LLMs using their published works, part of a growing global resistance.

The country’s new EV push is clashing with long-standing policies to discourage car ownership in general.

Missed deadlines and tension among Taiwanese and American coworkers are plaguing the chip giant’s Phoenix expansion.

Social media stars are downplaying fears of deforestation and boredom in Nusantara.

Southeast Asians are heading to Taiwan to train for semiconductor jobs, which is helping to fill a talent gap at the world’s top producer.

Steve Chen on the strengths and weaknesses of Taiwan in cultivating tech startups.

An e-commerce battle brews between Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop with the continued rise of livestream selling.

Drivers for the Vietnam delivery company had used workarounds but feared detection. After Rest of World’s reporting, the clause was dropped.

Battery-pack builders chase maximum range, despite safety risks.

Rest of World shadowed workers in São Paulo, Lagos, Dhaka, and Jakarta to get an intimate look at how they spend their breaks between orders.

Rest of World asked over 100 gig workers across 10 cities how they take a break between tasks.

Rest of World reviewed nearly 50 orders on one of Vietnam’s most popular food delivery apps. In most cases, the distance counted was lower than Google Maps' estimate.

The streaming giant attributed its departure to high network fees.

The Indonesian super-app sanctions worker peer-support groups, which help riders solve problems but also discourage dissent.

A gray market grows for Chinese EVs in Russia, the Middle East, and beyond.

Felix Kan on building a bug-hunting platform to enhance cybersecurity for small companies.

Aloysius Liang is the founder and CEO of Asa Ren, Indonesia’s first AI-powered clinicogenomics enterprise.

As Chinese manufacturers open shop in Vietnam, Bac Ninh has become a cultural hub with Chinese restaurants, bubble tea shops, and language centers.

Drivers pay out of pocket for online cash orders, expecting to be paid back by the customer — but, in Vietnam, the customers could disappear.

Our favorite global tech stories from publications not named Rest of World.

Shapar and amagundane are two types of platform workers their peers can’t stand.