Dispatches from Rest of World: October 3

Here are this week's biggest stories in tech from the regions that we cover. For more exclusive content, sign up for Rest of World's weekly global newsletter .

Image source: Xiaohongshu has revolutionized Chinese tourism in Southeast Asia

Africa Facebook’s parent company, Meta, might be in for a wave of litigation in Kenya. In September, a Kenyan court ruled that Meta — despite being a foreign entity — could be sued in Kenya for any malpractice by the company or its third-party contractors. The decision may have opened a can of worms. A few days later, the Katiba Institute, a Kenyan civil society organization, and two Ethiopian citizens took Meta to court over Facebook’s algorithm promoting content that led to ethnic violence and killings during the Tigray conflict . It looks like fighting local litigation might be Meta’s new reality in Kenya. — dámiláre dòsùnmú from Lagos

China As China’s economy slows, labor protests are on track to exceed last year’s count of nearly 1,800 incidents. Many of these small-scale protests are documented online by tech-savvy factory workers. Wired?highlighted a form of online dissent: In dozens of videos, Chinese social media users purporting to be Shein warehouse workers talk about grueling 11.5-hour shifts and sacrificing bathroom breaks. Although their complaints are subtle, they could intensify scrutiny on Shein, which has faced mounting pressure and new restrictions from U.S. policymakers. — Joanna Chiu from Vancouver

Latin America Mercado Pago, the fintech arm of Argentine e-commerce giant MercadoLibre, applied for a banking license in Mexico last week. The app has offered digital payments and remittance services for years, but the license will allow it to offer savings and checking accounts, certificates of deposit, commercial loans, and mortgages. This comes at a time when the competition in Mexico’s banking space has been heating up. Over the past year, at least three digital banks have been launched in Mexico, where nearly 50% of adults still don’t have a bank account. — Daniela Dib from Mexico City

South Asia More than 1,000 workers have been protestin g outside Samsung’s factory in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu since September 9, demanding wage hikes and a recognition of their union. The prolonged strike could have a detrimental impact on India’s image, according to?Amitabh Kant, a key architect of the government’s Make in India program that hopes to boost manufacturing in the country. It’s no wonder then that the Indian government wants the issues to be resolved quickly. Last week, Labor Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to Tamil Nadu’s chief minister calling for “an early and amicable resolution.” Meanwhile, Samsung has said that their Chennai plant workers are paid nearly twice as much as workers employed in other regions. — Ananya Bhattacharya from Mumbai

Southeast Asia YouTube is driving shopping in Southeast Asia unlike any other region in the world, according to Ajay Vidyasagar, the streaming platform’s Asia-Pacific director. Users worldwide watched more than 30 billion hours of shopping-related videos on YouTube last year; in Indonesia, a majority of users watch videos to research products before purchasing them. Earlier, YouTube Shopping , in partnership with e-commerce platform Shopee, was launched in Indonesia, to be followed by Thailand and Vietnam. Creators can tag products sold on Shopee in their videos. —? Rina Chandran from Bangkok