Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Facebook headquarters was celebrated online but when it came to actual business, there was little to show. In what felt like a photo-op, the highlight of the event was Mark Zuckerberg speaking of his trip to India and Narendra Modi narrating his growth from a tea seller to the Prime Minister.
The pressing issue on the agenda was the Internet.org initiative by Facebook and Net Neutrality, but without being elaborate, Modi and Zuckerberg spoke of their dreams of connecting rural India through the Internet, or more specifically, through Facebook’s Internet.org. While Modi spoke about the importance of Internet access and freedom of expression, his government had cut Internet in Kashmir and Gujarat. It was also revealed recently that Modi’s government made more requests than any other government to take down or delete Facebook posts that were “offensive”.
The Internet.org by Facebook has come in for much flak in the past week and criticism escalated when a majority of its users were made to believe that the social networking site had duped its users into supporting the Internet.org by following Zuckerberg and Modi’s suit by changing their profile pictures into images of the Tricolour.
Zuckerberg changed his profile picture to a tint of the Indian flag and urged Indians to “show their support for digital India” by clicking on the tool. After a severe backlash online, Facebook was quick to dismiss rumours that it would use the numbers to show as proof of support for the initiative.
The Internet.org initiative aims to introduce connectivity to the poor through free Internet but users will be able to only access a limited number of sites Facebook ties up with. Facebook has collaborated with telecom operators across the world to introduce the concept in various countries where the majority is still cut off from the Internet.
Facebook’s initiative carries the ‘.org’ tag, usually reserved for non-profit initiatives, but has now rebranded itself as Freebasics. Users are wary of Facebook’s intentions as they look to introduce a customised Internet to new users and create an online world that is synonymous of Facebook and devoid of any of its competitors. Google doesn’t feature in 10 out of 11 countries where Facebook has implemented Internet.org, thereby creating a user database that will use the internet but not Google, Amazon, e-bay or any sites that involve trade.
If the initiative is implemented, Facebook’s competitors could also follow suit and create their own Internet worlds. While initiatives like internet.org/Freebasics can provide immediate connectivity for the poor in the short run, it could see the internet divided by boundaries and colonised by media giants for their own benefits in the long run.
