404Media Exposes 'Young Indian Method' PDF, Shedding Light on Online Labor Exploitation

The Cofounder of 404Media Jason Koebler found a pdf document named “Young Indian Method '' on Discord for TikTok Spammers and the document was telling ways about how to earn by using workers from India. The document was only $7 for the claim and consisted of man dehumanizing methods to make Indians work. The document suggested that Indians get lazy after getting paid so they need to be starved to work efficiently. The term ‘Young Indian Method’ has been circulating around TikTok and YouTube for a year or so and the people explaining this method say that they were able to make lots of money by making people from developing countries work hard and they termed them as “young Indians”.

The news about the Young Indian Method got viral on Twitter six months ago and many people said that they are not sure whether this information is ironic or serious. The Young Indian Method definitely started out ironically but now it is being used seriously by hustling communities on the internet. A TikTok influencer in his viral video said that if you want to make money and do not care about how, then, there is no need to pay thousands of dollars to workers when you can just ask Indians to work for the least amount of money and make a lot of profit.

There is not one Young Indian Method as hustlers are using it in various forms. Several people are buying and selling YIM guides on how to outsource Indians and it can be seen on Discord and Telegram. Many adults as well as kids on these apps are purchasing the pdf to learn about different dehumanizing and unethical ways to make Indians work. At one point, the pdf says that make sure to get rid of Indians who are not working, wasting time and slacking off as they are easily replaceable. The document also adds that the workers can also be from other developing countries, not just India.

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The language of the document is extremely unethical and it suggests ways to make workers do tasks like video editing, web development, and social media management etc. at least amounts of money. The pdf also tells people that there is no age limit in starting this work as people of 15 years or younger are also making $10K+ a month. It also explains the sites where workers can be found like Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, Discord and Telegram. The pdf suggests that never pay Indians upfront as they need a lot of instructions and understanding if you need them to work.

There is no information about the person who has written that document. The links in the documents are also not helpful as most of them are hosted on Google Drive and the titles are generic. While depicted in a shockingly crass way, the "Young Indian Method" represents an unethical side of the influencer economy that dehumanizes workers and promotes a racially-charged, ultra-exploitative mindset.  This work of hustlers is similar to what many corporations have been doing for decades.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World