A Free, Inclusive, and Resilient Digital Future for the Global South!
Research Overview
My research focuses on information control infrastructure.
Infrastructure is often understood as the underlying foundation that supports “actual structures” (Star & Bowker, 2002), such as electrical grids and fiber-optic cables. Often considered positively, these frameworks can facilitate connectivity and foster development. Yet, the concept of infrastructure can also encompass frameworks that reinforce the “structures” of social control and inequality.
Using an STS approach, along with qualitative methods and technical techniques like threat modeling, my work explores the dynamics of information control infrastructure and its interaction with individuals. My research is organized into three main areas.
1. Infrastructure of Information Control in the Global South
I investigate the infrastructure supporting surveillance, censorship, and internet disconnection in the Global South. This research examines the technological systems and socio-political forces shaping these infrastructures, as well as the everyday practices and tools individuals use to navigate, resist or circumvent them. My work pays particular attention to China’s diffusion of information technologies to East Africa, analyzing cases including China’s Great Firewall and Ethiopia’s Telebirr and Fayda digital ID system.
2. History of Surveillance and Censorship Technologies
This area digs into the historical development of technologies designed for surveillance and censorship. It also explores the trajectory of digital fragmentation, where internet access and usage are increasingly influenced by geopolitical and technical barriers.
3. Privacy-Enhancing Technologies for Circumvention
I also study privacy-enhancing technologies aimed at helping users bypass censorship and surveillance. This includes examining tools for censorship circumvention and surveillance avoidance, with a focus on their impact on user privacy and autonomy.
Lived experiences and digital practices of individuals intertwined with information control infrastructures have consistently been a central focus of my exploration and documentation.
• Shen, D. The Emerging Super App Model in East Africa: Consolidated Data Extraction and Fragmented Digital Governance. Accepted by Taipei, Taiwan: RightsCon 2025 by Access Now, Incoming
• Shen, D. Multi-tiered Infrastructure of Disconnection: An STS Approach to De-Orientalize the Imagination of the “Great Firewall”. Christchurch, New Zealand: The Communication Policy and Technology Section at the Annual Conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), 2024
• Shen, D. Liquid Power and Docile Bodies: How Does Everyday Circumvention Shape the Censored Digital Life in China. Christchurch, New Zealand: The Communication in Post- and Neo-Authoritarian Societies Section of the IAMCR, 2024
Conferences & Presentations
