The crackdown on pro-democracy labour unions, combined with the decline of the restaurant industry in recent years, has left food delivery workers in a weak position when bargaining with platform operators.

A Keeta delivery worker group on Facebook uses the mainland Chinese term “involution” (內捲) to describe the “K Go” scheme as it forces workers to self-exploit for their survival in a shrinking market. Keeta’s parent company, Meituan, has been widely criticised for its algorithmic exploitation.