---
id: "aiethics:lecture/data-theatre"
type: "AI Ethics course lecture"
title: "Data Theatre"
url: "https://aiethicscourse.org/lectures/data-theatre"
authors: ["Siddharth Peter de Souza"]
summary: "This module names and describes the phenomenon of a 'data theatre' which has three elements, an aspect of a data injustice, a data silence, and a data violence."
source: "AI Ethics: Global Perspectives (aiethicscourse.org)"
licence: "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)"
---

# Data Theatre

A lecture of the course [AI Ethics: Global Perspectives](https://aiethicscourse.org/).

## Lecturer

- Siddharth Peter de Souza, Postdoctoral Researcher - Global Data Justice Project, Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society

## About this lecture

The module names and describes the phenomenon of a 'data theatre' which has three elements, an aspect of a data injustice, a data silence, and a data violence. Through the use of a case study of ratings in platform work, De Souza describes how often while data is touted to be objective and neutral to give us a clear, and fair understanding of a phenomenon, we instead only see a performance of these attributes. The module offers some insights into how to recognize this phenomenon, as well as how to challenge its emergence.

## Video and transcript

- Video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDSUiNPsF5A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDSUiNPsF5A)
- Transcript (PDF): [https://aiethicscourse.org/img/d53fddeb-a326-40b3-bed8-6d04a3e30b6a.pdf](https://aiethicscourse.org/img/d53fddeb-a326-40b3-bed8-6d04a3e30b6a.pdf)

## Read, watch, and listen

- [Amazon’s ‘Delivery Premier League’ Gamifies Gig Work in India](https://restofworld.org/2021/amazons-delivery-premier-league-gamifies-gig-work-in-india/), Christopher, Nilesh. "Amazon’s ‘Delivery Premier League’ Gamifies Gig Work in India." Rest of World Blog. October 25, 2021.
- [The Performativity of Ratings in Platform Work](https://www.cigionline.org/articles/the-performativity-of-ratings-in-platform-work/), de Souza, Siddharth Peter. “The Performativity of Ratings in Platform Work.” Centre for International Governance Innovation Blog. June 20, 2022.
- [Data Silences— Invisibilising Migrant Distress in Times of COVID-19](https://globaldatajustice.org/gdj/142/), de Souza, Siddharth Peter. “Data Silences— Invisibilising Migrant Distress in Times of COVID-19.” Data and Pandemic Politics 6. https://doi.org/10.26116/datajustice-covid-19.006
- ['Providing Support to Both Parties, Delivery Executive Had Highest Rating’: Zomato on Alleged Attack in Bengaluru](https://indianexpress.com/article/india/providing-support-to-both-parties-zomato-on-alleged-attack-in-bengaluru-7224987/), “'Providing Support to Both Parties, Delivery Executive Had Highest Rating’: Zomato on Alleged Attack in Bengaluru." The Indian Express. Indian Express Group, March 12, 2021. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/providing-support-to-both-parties-zomato-on-alleged-attack-in-bengaluru-7224987/.
- [Data justice for development: What would it mean?](https://doi.org/10.1177/0266666916678282), Heeks, R., & Renken, J.. "Data justice for development: What would it mean?" Information Development, vol. 34, no. 1, 2016, pp.90-102.
- [Data Violence and How Bad Engineering Choices Can Damage Society](https://medium.com/s/story/data-violence-and-how-bad-engineering-choices-can-damage-society-39e44150e1d4), Hoffman, Anna Lauren. "Data Violence and How Bad Engineering Choices Can Damage Society." Medium Blog. April 30, 2018.
- [In the Gig Economy, Customers are Complicit in Labor Exploitation](https://theswaddle.com/swiggy-zomato-labor-exploitation/), Naraharisetty, Rohitha. "In the Gig Economy, Customers are Complicit in Labor Exploitation." The Swaddle Blog. August 20, 2021.
- [5.0: What it's like to be a last-mile delivery driver in Indonesia](https://restofworld.org/2021/global-gig-workers-truck-driver-indonesia/), Renaldi, Adi. "5.0: What it's like to be a last-mile delivery driver in Indonesia." Rest of World Blog. September 21, 2021.
- [What is data justice? The case for connecting digital rights and freedoms globally](https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951717736335), Taylor, L. "What is data justice? The case for connecting digital rights and freedoms globally." Big Data & Society, vol. 4, no. 2, 2017, pp.1-14.