{"id":15790,"date":"2016-11-17T15:00:44","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T20:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/there-aint-no-such-thing-as-free-internet\/"},"modified":"2016-11-20T10:51:24","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T15:51:24","slug":"there-aint-no-such-thing-as-free-internet","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/there-aint-no-such-thing-as-free-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"There ain\u2019t no such thing as free Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe internet is one of the most powerful tools for economic and social progress. It gives people access to jobs, knowledge and opportunities. It gives voice to the voiceless in our society, and it connects people with vital resources for health and education.<\/em><\/p>\n

I believe everyone in the world deserves access to these opportunities.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and Co-founder of Facebook[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Internet.org<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/a>
\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

In August, 2013, Facebook in partnership with Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera and Qualcomm, launched Internet.org[2]<\/a>, a project aimed at bringing affordable internet access to about five billion people world-over[3]<\/a>. The project made waves throughout developing countries and Zuckerberg was lauded for his vision and philanthropy. Over the next few months, he spoke and wrote at various forums on the idea and importance of having free internet for all.<\/p>\n

\"zuckerberg-in-chandauli\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

India was an important focus area for this initiative. In 2014, Zuckerberg visited India and met Prime Minister Modi and the IT Mi\"mark-modi\"<\/a>nister, assuring them to support their Digital India initiative[4]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Zuckerberg visited Indian villages, met locals, and pointed out how much free internet could benefit their lives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No, thank you!<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWho could possibly be against this?\u201d Zuckerberg asked in an article he wrote for an Indian newspaper.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

In April 2015, web-technology companies, mostly start-ups, started pulling out of this initiative and criticized it[6]<\/a>. The problem had its roots in the principle of “zero rating”, which was fundamental to the “business model” of Internet.org. This meant that service providers would offer selective services and access to certain applications only. It went against the principle of \u2018net neutrality\u2019, which The Economist called \u201cthe idea that all data on the internet should be treated equitably, regardless of content or provenance.\u201d[7]<\/a> Common people were also worried that they might have to pay extra to access individual apps.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not just philanthropy?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Facebook was blocked in China, making India, with its population of over 1.2 billion people, the biggest growth market for the social networking site[8]<\/a>. It was alleged that Facebook wanted to dominate this massive market by monopolizing access of internet among those who could not afford it otherwise. Internet.org had partnered with local carrier Reliance Communications to offer \u201cfree internet services\u201d in India. However, only 38 web\"cleartrip\"<\/a>sites or apps could be accessed without consuming or paying for internet[9]<\/a>. Users would naturally be inclined to use these websites for free instead of paying for internet charges to use competing websites. In all fairness, none of the participating sites had paid or were paid to participate in Internet.org.<\/p>\n

\"dailyhunt\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But start-ups complained that they would never be on equal footing with these websites if the user is supposedly disincentivized to use new their products. As per their logic, Facebook, the phone carrier, and the limited number of sites could soon capture hundreds of millions of users in India, and by reducing their access to other sites, gradually build a monopoly over this massive customer base.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Save the Internet<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Indian tech start-ups and internet activists launched the \u2018Save the Internet\u2019 campaign[10]<\/a> to promote net neutrality and save the fundamental architecture of internet, as Internet.org was \u201cthreatening freedom of expression, equality of opportunity, security, privacy and innovation.\u201d[11]<\/a>\u00a0Countries such as USA, Netherlands, Chile, Brazil, etc. already had regulations or laws favoring net neutrality.<\/p>\n

Popular comedy group All India Bakchod simplified the message to explain it to the common man –\u00a0[12]<\/a><\/p>\n