Exploring the Boundaries of "Light" and "Dark": Encrypted Communications as Informal Economic Infrastructure

• In Event: Critical Perspectives on Emergent and Current Issues II

Abstract

The concealed informal economy has become an integral part of the global economy, and activities such as large-scale drug trafficking, human trafficking, and telecom fraud remain difficult to track, posing major challenges for researchers. With the rise of decentralized communication platforms, encrypted messaging apps like Telegram and Status have become critical infrastructure enabling informal economies to connect and operate. Studies and media reports indicate that many illicit transactions now occur through these services. Drawing on ethnographic investigations of two emerging illicit industries—the telecom fraud industry in northern Myanmar and the illegal immigration industry in China, this paper explores how encrypted communication software reshapes the characteristics of informal economies. We argue that these apps are not just communication tools but infrastructure supporting the informal economy. They paradoxically render it semi-transparent, allowing observers to gain insight into its operations. This semi-transparency also reveals hidden networks across informal economies and between informal and formal sectors. Encrypted platforms blur boundaries while linking illicit industries into a web-like structure. Finally, through case analysis, we highlight the limits of current research on illicit infrastructures and propose that these platforms may serve as both research subjects and methods.

Authors

• Jingjia Xiao, University of California, San Diego

• Qing Xiao, Carnegie Mellon University