As part of Global Voices’ fundraising challenge campaign called “Behind the Story,” we will feature 30 contributors in 30 days. In this series, we ask each contributor about a particular story they have written and why working on it mattered to them. These reflections from these contributors remind us why it is important to ensure that the Global Voices Newsroom is sustainable.

In this insight, Marisa Petricca from Italy shares thoughts on why working on the story “Global digital rights report reveals unexpected boost in transparency from Chinese tech giants” was especially meaningful.

My story about Chinese tech company giants and their transparency policy in 2025 (based on the report by Global Voices partner Ranking Digital Rights) aimed to go beyond the mainstream media narrative about the tech war between China and the U.S. I am a Sinologist, and I am very close to the topic of China’s global influence and tech in Asia. I wanted my article to give readers objective data on tech services from Asia we use daily, for example, TikTok. What are they doing right? What must they implement or change in terms of apps or services used by millions of people globally? I hope this story will be useful to many netizens who are our readers, which is also the mission of Global Voices and our Advox project.

Global Voices is a platform that provides a space for our community to share stories and perspectives about their community and issues they care about through the accompaniment of a supportive editorial team that assists each contributor to craft their stories.

If you have gained new insights about different parts of the world by reading Global Voices stories from our contributors, please consider donating to keep these stories readily available. Your contribution will support Global Voices’ Newsroom through the end of the year.