Digital Arrest | Apps Tracking Us, Air Safari Distracting Us and Why the Internet Feels Worse

Welcome to Digital Arrest – The Wire’s latest show on everything the internet is doing to us (and what we’re doing to it).

In this episode, Elisha and Kavita break down two big stories that defined the last fortnight online:

• Sanchar Saathi: Why did the Union government quietly push a mandatory app… and then quickly roll it back? What does it mean for data, surveillance and citizen rights?
• Delhi’s Air Safari: As Delhi chokes, the city’s newest “tourism attraction” literally takes off — instead of real solutions on the ground.
• Enshittification: From Facebook and Instagram to OTT platforms looping back to cable-TV levels of ads – why does the internet feel like it’s getting worse for everyone?

Plus: the memes that made it bearable, the protests (online and offline), and the question of whether governments and tech platforms are jointly making our digital lives more frustrating, more extractive, and far less free.

Watch till the end for our recommendations and don’t forget to read Soumashree Sarkar’s article on how the Indian government has repeatedly led us down on the data privacy front.

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