Hits and Misses: On Corporate Responsibility, Gate Keepers and Common Code
Dear Reader,
June saw some big hits and misses in the world of digital governance. EU lawmakers finally reached an agreement on the Platform Workers Directive, which seeks to address the employment status and conditions of gig workers. A first-of-its-kind legislation, this law has been keenly awaited. But its ambitious objective to end bogus self-employment in platform work has seen dilution in language and scope along the way, denting the potential for full recognition of platform workers’ rights. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also released an update to its Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct this month. While the updated guidelines acknowledge the emergence of the digitalized economy, they sadly are off the mark when it comes to addressing the full implications of this shift.
What this goes to show is that growing appetite and momentum for regulation may be on the rise. But these efforts end up translating into one-step-forward two-step-backward governance measures that need to constantly be unpacked and called out for the limits of their efficacy, ambit, and, most importantly, their imagination.
This month on DataSyn, we analyze the update to the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct and critically assess how it extends (or doesn’t) itself to a digitalized business environment. We also bring you two sharp explorations from our Big Tech and Society fellows, who delve into India’s evolving tech landscape. Our essays look at the potentials and pitfalls for gatekeeper regulation in India, and deep dive into the state of Kerala’s vibrant and long-standing open-source initiatives in education, charting both their remarkable achievements and the growing difficulties of operating in a Big Tech landscape.
The DataSyn Team
THE POLICY TABLE
Missing the Target? OECD’s 2023 Targeted Updates to Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises Fail to Meet Current Digitalization Challenges
Shreeja Sen
The 2023 update to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises aims to account for new challenges of today’s economy, including the centrality of digital technology. Shreeja Sen brings a critical lens to bear on what the update does, where it succeeds, and where it clearly falls short.
Read on.
THE POLICY TABLE
The Recipe for India’s Gatekeeper Regulation
Madhavi Singh
The EU’s Digital Markets Act has sparked discussions about gatekeeper laws across jurisdictions. Madhavi Singh analyzes the applicability of such a framework in the Indian context.
Read on.
DIGITAL DISSENT
Flying the KITE High against Digital Colonialism: FOSS in the Age of Edtech
Michael Kwet
Mandated and implemented in public schools and universities in the state of Kerala in India for nearly two decades now, the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) program has been a resounding FOSS success story. Charting KITE’s successful trajectory, Michael Kwet reflects on FOSS’ anticolonial antecedents and pro-community philosophy and examines the challenges it faces in today’s shifting terrain of EdTech.
Read on.
The Sins & Synergies Lounge
As ‘Generative AI’ continues to take the world by storm, questions about the vital possibilities that large-language models represent for the open-source community are emerging. In fact, a recently leaked letter by a Google AI researcher suggests it is something that is giving pause even to Big Tech. Read more here.
Ever wondered what it’s like trying to organize workers in the belly of the beast? Listen to Auni Ahsan and Stephen McMurtry from the Alphabet Worker’s Union discuss their experiences doing just that, on a new episode of the ‘This Machine Kills’ podcast.
What is driving protectionist measures in EU policymaking for the digital economy? In a recent study by SOMO, Margarida Silva meticulously maps out Amazon’s European chokehold and captures the Big Tech takeover of EU markets.
A promising development in the multilateral space has been an extended mandate for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to development. Read IT for Change’s inputs to this process.
The recent release of the UN Secretary-General’s Policy Brief on the Global Digital Compact has provided much needed clarity on the underlying vision for this landmark process in digital governance. Read IT for Change’s response, as the team takes stock of where it delivers and where it falls short.
Post-script
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