Our recent work, 'Platform Accountability in Online Dating: A Critical Analysis of Privacy, Discrimination, and Safety Harms in India', is featured as a chapter in the anthology 'The Platform Question'. It was published by the Centre for Development Policy and Practice and supported by ARISE Community and the Digital Empowerment Foundation.

The expansion of online dating platforms in the Global South brought with it the promise of greater agency for users in societies where romantic desire and sexual autonomy are strictly policed. The last decade alone has witnessed a significant increase in the presence of dating platforms in India, including both global dating platforms like Tinder and Bumble, as well as homegrown dating platforms like Aisle and Quack Quack. Unfortunately, this expansion has been accompanied by user harms such as financial fraud, casteist abuse, and sexual harassment, especially targeting women and members of marginalised communities. This chapter focuses on three interlinked categories of user risks: privacy violations, discriminatory practices, and safety threats; and we contextualise these risks to India’s unique socio-political and cultural context.

This anthology is the result of a global collaboration among scholars, practitioners, and activists who come together to reflect on the expanding role of platforms in an increasingly digitized world. As platformization reshapes economies, politics, and everyday interactions, it brings with it new forms of regulation, control, and accountability that profoundly affect both marginalized communities and society at large.