India, Sept. 13 -- The global gig economy employs nearly 200 million people through digital platform-based companies like Uber, Food Panda, Zomato, Oyo and others. It's also important to note that a significant amount of gig work silently happens on social media platforms like WhatsApp, WeChat, and Facebook. That's where the gig economy gets linked to public unrest whenever there's a social media ban.

So, when Nepal banned 26 social media platforms on September 4 after a week's ultimatum, it was not just about freedom of speech and press freedom. It was also about a loss of livelihood and jobs-particularly in a country where 6.7 percent of the national GDP comes from tourism, i.e. over two billion USD. This means the protests were also i...