Japan Bento 🍱 16 March 2023 “Sushi terrorism”: Viral pranks have caused an all-out panic in Japan Twitter antics have led to three arrests, and fears over the end of the sushi train tradition. Here's how the terror escalated so fast. By Andrew Deck
ChinaIndiaMexicoMoroccoSingapore Global Tech Downturn 15 March 2023 How the global startup economy is reacting to SVB’s crash Entrepreneurs and investors in India, Mexico, Morocco, Singapore, and China are worried about the fallout of the crisis on the funding and regulatory environment. By Nilesh Christopher, David I. Adeleke, Ee Ming Toh, Daniela Dib, José Luis Peñarredonda and Viola Zhou
Cambodia News 10 March 2023 Leaked law proposal would give Cambodia expanded powers to censor critics Rest of World has obtained a previously unseen draft of a new cybersecurity law that experts say is ripe for abuse. By Fiona Kelliher
Cambodia TikTok Domination 7 March 2023 TikTok’s viral monks are clashing with Buddhist authorities Superstar monks have built massive followings — but dancing, singing, and fame-seeking are all violations of the monastic code. By Fiona Kelliher and Cindy Liu
ChinaIndonesia Ideas 3 March 2023 How Chinese smartphones won the hearts (and wallets) of Indonesia Indonesians spend more time on their smartphones than anyone else. And 70% of those smartphones are Chinese. By William Yuen Yee
Indonesia TikTok Domination 27 February 2023 People on TikTok are paying elderly women to sit in stagnant mud for hours and cry The trend ran rampant in Indonesia until the government stepped in. By Aisyah Llewellyn
Japan Crypto’s Big Collapse 24 February 2023 Days after a promised refund, some FTX Japan users are still waiting for their money Some Japanese FTX customers are being told they're ineligible for withdrawals. By Andrew Deck
Japan Apps of the World 24 February 2023 Find a sauna, no sweat A new app promises to help you find Japan's hottest public baths. By Sarah Hilton
Taiwan Q & A 22 February 2023 Battery-swapping EVs are all the rage in Taiwan. Will it work abroad? Gogoro, the company that revolutionized EVs in Taiwan, is launching pilot projects from Korea to Germany. By Meaghan Tobin
Indonesia EV Revolution 21 February 2023 China is exporting its tiny EV obsession Wuling outsells the Tesla Model 3 in China. In Indonesia, EV buyers are flocking to it for lower-cost prestige. By Tonggo Simangunsong
Japan Labor 16 February 2023 This Japanese manga artist-turned-politician is taking on AI art Lawmakers have floated policy responses to protect artists, but some question whether they can follow through. By Andrew Deck
Singapore News 9 February 2023 The rocky rise of Bondee, the metaverse app taking Asia by storm The game has hooked young people, but its Chinese origins are stoking privacy fears. By Nicole Lim
Japan Labor 6 February 2023 Anime artists are panicking over Netflix’s AI experiment Background illustrators worry they’re being automated out of a job. By Andrew Deck
Philippines Reports 2 February 2023 This social network paid users for posts. What could go wrong? Wildly popular in the Philippines, Lyka collapsed and left users with stores of tokens worth nothing. Now the CEO is plotting a comeback. By Andrew Deck and Aie Balagtas See
Vietnam Q & A 26 January 2023 U.S. and European markets are “very hard to please”: VinFast’s CEO on its global ambitions Lê Thị Thu Thủy on why Vietnam's Vingroup went from making instant noodles to EVs. By Lam Le
Vietnam EV Revolution 24 January 2023 Battery errors, software glitches: some VinFast EV customers are having a rough time VinFast wants to be Vietnam’s Tesla. Its drivers can feel like product testers. By Lam Le
Taiwan News 4 January 2023 Taiwan goes all in on crypto, despite the global crash Taipei Blockchain Week was full of boundless optimism. By Meaghan Tobin
BrazilChinaEl SalvadorIndiaIndonesiaNigeriaSouth AfricaUkraine Lists 28 December 2022 The stats, facts, and figures that defined tech in 2022 From Bukele’s bitcoins to the number of accounts banned by Twitter in India, the best stats of the year. By Meaghan Tobin
AfghanistanBrazilChinaHaitiIndiaIndonesiaMalaysiaMoroccoNigeriaPanamaRussiaSyriaUkraine Year In Review 26 December 2022 2022’s best stories on global tech (that we wish we’d written) Articles from around the world which we loved, obsessed over, and still can’t stop thinking about. By Rest of World Staff
IndonesiaKenyaSingaporeU.K. Ideas 21 December 2022 Millions of workers are managed by algorithms One day, that could be normal. Here’s what we need to do about it. By PeiChin Tay and Oliver Large
ChinaIndonesiaKazakhstanSingapore Crypto’s Big Collapse 21 December 2022 Crypto miners and traders are closing up shop across Asia From Jakarta to Kazakhstan, the picture is bleak. “We will sell our graphics-processing units to gamers,” says one crypto miner. By Naubet Bisenov, Adi Renaldi and Nicole Lim
Japan Tech Markets 14 December 2022 Games, high-end audio equipment, maid cafés: Inside Akihabara, Tokyo’s geek paradise Come for a sound system that costs as much as an apartment, stay for a game of Pong. By Rest of World Staff
Taiwan Tech Markets 14 December 2022 Taiwan’s hottest devices are in one of its oldest malls Every kind of tech part, from the obvious to the super rare, can be found in this space-age mall. By Meaghan Tobin and An Rong Xu
Indonesia Tech Markets 14 December 2022 Jakarta’s once-booming electronics market is a ghost town The pandemic and the rise of e-commerce were death blows. By Antonia Timmerman and Muhammad Fadli
Hong Kong Tech Markets 14 December 2022 Enter the maze of Hong Kong’s tech wonderland From counterfeit Apple II to the Nintendo Switch, Hong Kong's "golden" tech market supplies every niche electronics enthusiast. By Viola Zhou and Billy H.C. Kwok
Indonesia Politics 12 December 2022 Indonesia’s new criminal code bans online insults of the president Articles forbidding “humiliation” of the government continue an unsettling trend of pressure on online speech. By Johanes Hutabarat
Japan Money 12 December 2022 FTX Japan says it will repay all customers within weeks. Ex-employees are skeptical Doubts swirl even as FTX Japan claims it's solvent and working hard on a plan. By Andrew Deck
Singapore Reports 29 November 2022 Singapore’s free AI therapy-bot is as problematic as you’d think The app tried to relieve pandemic stress for teachers — but instead, triggered cries of “gaslighting” and frustration. By Meerie Jesuthasan
Indonesia Features 28 November 2022 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. By Antonia Timmerman and Muhammad Fadli
Indonesia News 24 November 2022 As GoTo slashes 12% of workforce, massive tech layoffs hit Southeast Asia Indonesia's “pandemic darlings” are now the biggest casualties of cost cuts. By Antonia Timmerman
South Korea Q & A 14 November 2022 89% of surveyed Twitter employees say the company will fail under Musk Sunguk Moon, CEO and co-founder of the anonymous workplace forum Blind, reveals how workers at Twitter and Meta really feel. By Sarah Hilton
Malaysia Reports 14 November 2022 Malaysia built a WFH paradise. Now it just needs people to turn up. With pristine beaches and robot waiters, the country is luring back digital nomads — but it’s also making early stumbles. By Antonia Timmerman
CambodiaVietnam Reports 10 November 2022 How Cambodia’s scam mills reel in new “cyber slave” workers Casual trafficking, calls to parents, misleading ads: even with global pressure, recruitment is rife. By Danielle Keeton-Olsen and Lam Nguyen
Vietnam Reports 2 November 2022 Vietnam is luring tech giants out of China with flashy infrastructure projects Even as Apple and others move suppliers in, the boom has its skeptics. By Lam Le
Indonesia Reports 31 October 2022 Meet Indonesia’s Joe Rogan — part YouTube star, part magician, all controversy Deddy Corbuzier, a master of conflict-as-entertainment, is now a defining force in the country’s influencer industrial complex. By Antonia Timmerman
Japan Reports 27 October 2022 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. By Andrew Deck