CRC Spotlight: Ride-Hailing Apps as Vehicles of Foreign Solidarity and Potential Influence Operations

In August and September 2025, a series of civil and political upheavals, primarily in Asian countries, shocked regional observers and elites. Viral images featuring the ‘One Piece’ pirate flag, adopted as a symbol by protestors, made front page news and social media was soon flooded with cross-country messages of support and solidarity.

Interestingly, a key characteristic of this wave of protests was the role played by popular ride-hailing and delivery apps as well as the ‘gig economy’ workers that rely on them. Platform users became central to the movement's core narratives, while being supplied in real-time by supportive netizens.

In this CRC Spotlight article, we examine the potential operational implications of this development: how commercial apps can serve as channels for on-the-ground support and how they might represent a new vector for Influence Operations.

The platforms and their users are already vulnerable to exploitation, with active "Fraud-as-a-Service" networks using tactics like account takeover (ATO) and location spoofing for financial gain.

Although this wave of protests appears to be organic, existing Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) could easily be repurposed from financial fraud to political interference, such as astroturfing support for unrest. This emerging threat is amplified by the difficulty in attribution, inherent to the spontaneous, grassroots nature of platform-based aid.

With gig economy platforms becoming de-facto civic infrastructure worldwide, their potential for malign socio-political exploitation is outpacing the regulatory frameworks needed to mitigate the risks.

Read the full report below for in depth analysis

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CRC Spotlight- Ride-Hailing Apps as Vehicles of Foreign Solidarity and Potential Influence.

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