In the recent days, you must be seeing an ongoing advertisement by Facebook and Reliance seeking the support in favor of its new campaign, “Free Basics” on Facebook and on other Facebook related sites. There have been notifications popping on your wall regarding registering your support in favor of Free Basics. But in the ongoing times, where a debate on net neutrality is going on so very actively, it is imperative for each one of us to acquaint ourselves with this very campaign Free Basics and pros and cons of the same.
[highlight ]Free Basics is a project by Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg that aims at bringing an access to the use of internet to those, who can’t afford it.[/highlight] As per the official statement made by Facebook,[highlight ] “Free Basics is a first step of connecting one billion Indians to the opportunities online and achieving digital equality in India”. [/highlight]Though the very first draft showcasing the information about Free Basics seems a good initiative by Facebook, however it just offers access over limited sites and apps, thus violating the principle of net neutrality.
However not only TRAI has slammed Facebook for running an orchestrated campaign on Free Basics, Save the Internet has issued a report stating that there could be several other ways other than zero rating and differential pricing to bring internet access to millions of Indians, who cannot access internet due to high data costs as opposed to Free Basics. As per, Save the Internet, Facebook and several telecom providers have been misleading Indians seeking their support in favor of zero rating and differential pricing to expand internet access in India.
Indian venture capitalist, Mahesh Murthy issued a statement clearly opposing the Free Basics scheme by Facebook. [highlight ]He had clearly stated that since 40% of users are paying for the full internet to have full access, the other 60% are stuck in Facebook Jail[/highlight]. Murthy further reiterated that this is a scam that have been pushed in African Nations, banned in countries like Finland, Norway, Japan and Netherlands and through effective and pluperfect lobbying, advertisement, diplomacy have been unbanned in India. We support the Murthy’s version of not supporting the concept of Free Basics. Free Basics is not a free service or incentive by Facebook as it restricts the usage of other sites reinstating the monopoly of Facebook in the internet space of India restricting the usage of other important and indispensable sites.
It further states, [highlight ]that allowing for the Free Basics would mean that internet monopolies will have an easy access to our personal information and this data could be monetised for which even Facebook is not submitting tax to Indian government.[/highlight] Facebook’s Free Basics is an encroachment to the principle of net neutrality and thus would restrict our freedom to access, what websites and content we choose to access and what we do not. There is more population that has a strong craving for the other content on web space and not just for Facebook and thus the need of the hour is that there should be an active provision of full internet at prices, that people can afford rather than allowing Facebook and other sites to monopolise the digital space of India. Moreover we further believe that the very concept of Free basics stretches digital inequality in India and the new entrants to the internet space may come to believe Facebook as the new internet. These are the times whereby internet has been widely accepted as a stupendous source of knowledge, communication and commerce and the introduction of Free basics would shackle our flight to the access of the full and free internet as our access would be limited to facebook and its partnering sites.