The Platform Question: Power, Accountability and Global South The Platform Question: Power, Accountability and Global South women from marginalised communities can be particularly vulnerable to privacy breaches. In the recent past, pictures of Indian Muslim women, obtained from social media, have been mock auctioned on open-source apps derogatorily named Bulli Bai38 and Sulli Deals.39 These incidents have heightened the apprehension regarding the use of dating platforms amongst Muslim female users, especially given the opacity surrounding their privacy policies and redressal mechanisms.40 Case Study: Privacy Practices of Aisle and Quack Quack41 The following analysis examines the privacy practices of Aisle and Quack Quack on the basis of publicly available information in their privacy policies, terms of use and user interface. In the recent past, pictures of Indian Muslim women, obtained from social media, have been mock auctioned on opensource apps derogatorily named Bulli Bai and Sulli Deals. These incidents have heightened the apprehension regarding the use of dating platforms amongst Muslim female users, especially given the opacity surrounding their privacy policies and redressal mechanisms. 44 Platform Accountability in Online Dating Discrimination Romantic and sexual desire, although deeply personal, is entrenched in existing power structures and shaped by histories of oppression and exclusion.58 With the emergence of online dating platforms, many saw the possibility to transgress existing racial and ethnic boundaries by dating outside of conventional friends and family networks.59 However, romantic desire online continues to be mediated by gender, caste, class, race, ethnicity, religion, language, and so on.60 In fact, these choices are often normalised and legitimised as personal preferences,61 and further reinforced by opaque matching algorithms, platform policies and design. Numerous studies in the Global North have highlighted the prevalence and normalisation of sexual racism62 in online dating63 and the resultant hierarchy of desirability64 which privileges Whiteness.65 This reinforces discrimination and the invisibilisation of racial and ethnic minorities, increasing their vulnerability to racial abuse, and even sexual harassment and physical violence.66 Consequently, many global platforms have faced criticism for enabling users to express racial preferences in bios or through ethnicity filters.67 Even when users do not engage in explicit filtering, matching algorithms of many prominent dating platforms use collaborative filtering,68 which can potentially learn discriminatory racial preferences of users in dating through the feedback loop of user interactions, and amplify existing social norms of homophily.69 This can result in the homogenisation of recommendations even for users who do not wish to be restricted by the dominant preferences of their racial group.70 Dating platforms often create an illusion of choice, since users are often unaware of the extent to which the profiles presented to them are curated by the hidden logics of the opaque matching algorithms, especially when the recommendations conform to dominant societal expectations. In comparison to the research on discrimination based on racism in online dating in the Global North, there are relatively fewer studies on how discrimination manifests in dating platforms in India. This is especially relevant given that endogamy has been the defining feature of upholding castebased segregation and discrimination.71 This is reflected in the persistently low percentages of intercaste72 and interreligious marriages.73 Any transgression of caste or religious lines can result in violence, often directed at Dalit and Muslim Platform Accountability in Online Dating Dating platforms often create an illusion of choice, since users are often unaware of the extent to which the profiles presented to them are curated by the hidden logics of the opaque matching algorithms, especially when the recommendations conform to dominant societal expectations. 45