Toussaint Nothias

While at CASBS, Toussaint Nothias is completing a book on Facebook’s efforts to expand Internet access in the Global South. Drawing on seven years of research, the book examines the origins, evolution and impact of Facebook’s Internet.org/Free Basics initiative. It argues that this project, framed as a philanthropic effort to “connect the unconnected,” was central to cementing Facebook’s role as the gateway to the Internet for much of the world. The book documents the initiative’s technical, social, and financial costs—from privacy risks and glitches to regulatory capture and hidden economic burdens—underscoring the promises and perils of “free” technology.

Nothias is a communication scholar who researches platform power, media and global inequalities. He is clinical associate professor in Experimental Humanities & Social Engagement and Affiliate Faculty in Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. Previously, he was research director of the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University. Nothias is co-editor of AI and Assembly: Coming Together and Apart in a Datafied World (Stanford University Press, 2025), and his work has appeared in Journal of Communication, Media, Culture & Society, Public Books, International Journal of Communication, and Boston Review. His scholarship has received numerous awards including the International Communication Association’s Outstanding Article of the Year and IAMCR’s Stuart Hall Award.

For more information, please visit his faculty page: https://as.nyu.edu/faculty/toussaint-nothias.html