I think what pissed me off the most was Facebook's reaction to net neutrality. Instead of attempting to reflect and revise their free Internet service so it can better serve the masses, it just attempts to slander and point fingers at net neutrality advocates. Like "ooooh no! We ain't the problem for your not having "free" Internet, it's those guys those over there arguing that free access to all of Internet is better than a free access to the websites we limit you to!" Seriously Facebook, you're not fooling anyone here. As if you haven't had enough fun screwing developed countries, now you have to go pick on the poor too?
Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
21–30 of 62 posts
Re: Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
#22I don't think people crying for net neutrality understand how many people in India still do not have Internet access. Even free access to facebook changes people's lives in a better way. I belong to a small village in eastern UP, and the Internet penetration is still very less there. The Internet has huge potential to change people's lives for the better, and I have experienced it in my own life. Lots of people still…
How much does a half-gigabyte 2G pack cost in your region?
Re: Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
#23I don't think people crying for net neutrality understand how many people in India still do not have Internet access. Even free access to facebook changes people's lives in a better way. I belong to a small village in eastern UP, and the Internet penetration is still very less there. The Internet has huge potential to change people's lives for the better, and I have experienced it in my own life. Lots of people still…
A little good now at the expense of a significant amount of future opportunity. In established markets this is called "dumping" -- giving something away to destroy competition.
I don't think there is any loss of significant future opportunity. When someone will be able to afford the Internet, they will start using whichever service they find fit.
Till then for those people, I can't overstate how important free access to even this limited Internet is. Even free access to wikipedia and facebook helps a lot of people in a lot of ways.
Fun Story: One day I was with the brother of a friend of mine. He said facebook helped him a lot in SSC preparations. I thought he was joking, but it turns out that there is an entire ecosystem of services on facebook which help several people in several ways and for those people, this free access matters a hell lot.
Re: Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
#24I don't think people crying for net neutrality understand how many people in India still do not have Internet access. Even free access to facebook changes people's lives in a better way. I belong to a small village in eastern UP, and the Internet penetration is still very less there. The Internet has huge potential to change people's lives for the better, and I have experienced it in my own life. Lots of people still…
How much does a half-gigabyte 2G pack cost in your region?
Rs. 125 for 15 days on the Idea network. Should be similar on others.
Re: Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
#25[deleted]
Re: Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
#26I don't think people crying for net neutrality understand how many people in India still do not have Internet access. Even free access to facebook changes people's lives in a better way. I belong to a small village in eastern UP, and the Internet penetration is still very less there. The Internet has huge potential to change people's lives for the better, and I have experienced it in my own life. Lots of people still…
Facebook could have provided free data and let the users choose which sites they visit.
Re: Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did you never use these free AOL CDs when you were a kid. Yes they did provide access to the entire internet, but it was designed to get people to use AOL. I am not going to complain about free internet even if it is walled.
I'd rather not have Western companies filter what Indians can and cannot have under the assumption that India is too poor or backwards to get its shit done.
That isn't anyone's assumption. These people are too underprivileged to know or care about your "walled gardens" and "ecosystems". It's supposed to be a good enough intermediate step to drastically improve the poor's access to information.
Yes, it's good for Facebook, obviously, but this is not a zero sum game. The choice to use any better competing service that comes along will always exist. No one else is willing to front the hundreds of millions with little to no returns for 20+ years required, though.
Re: Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
#28I think what pissed me off the most was Facebook's reaction to net neutrality. Instead of attempting to reflect and revise their free Internet service so it can better serve the masses, it just attempts to slander and point fingers at net neutrality advocates. Like "ooooh no! We ain't the problem for your not having "free" Internet, it's those guys those over there arguing that free access to all of Internet is bette…
It's almost beautifully murky that the folks using the app would come to think that what is offered to them is the Internet. This is a distilled example of what heavy ISP control of the Internet could look like.
Getting service to disadvantaged or destitute people is great. But it's so very important that Google, Facebook, Apple, Comcast, Verizon, TWC, whomever are constrained from wanton good-will Trojan horses. The tenor and breadth with which Facebook has entered their heavy-handed lot simply illustrates that sometimes, there's nothing new under the sun.
TRAI taking a very thorough, critical look at Free Basics is a good thing for the people of India.
Re: Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
#29I think what pissed me off the most was Facebook's reaction to net neutrality. Instead of attempting to reflect and revise their free Internet service so it can better serve the masses, it just attempts to slander and point fingers at net neutrality advocates. Like "ooooh no! We ain't the problem for your not having "free" Internet, it's those guys those over there arguing that free access to all of Internet is bette…
This is counter-productive for FB in the long run. When zero-rating hollows out net neutrality, what stops WeChat from teaming up with an ISP to undermine WhatsApp and Messenger?
Imagine if MySpace had struck deals with network operators all over the world to be available without data charges and called it philanthropy.
Re: Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd rather not have Western companies filter what Indians can and cannot have under the assumption that India is too poor or backwards to get its shit done.
That isn't anyone's assumption. These people are too underprivileged to know or care about your "walled gardens" and "ecosystems". It's supposed to be a good enough intermediate step to drastically improve the poor's access to information. Yes, it's good for Facebook, obviously, but this is not a zero sum game. The choice to use any better competing service that comes along will always exist. No one else is willing t…
Just to be clear, Free Basics runs on top of existing mobile internet providers. It’s just free access to Facebook plus a few handpicked websites.