Facebook is misleading Indians with its full-page ads about Free Basics

finally more people are speaking about it. its sad to see facebook revert to cheap publicity stunt tactics to get their way around. I always had a good impression of FB specially for their open source tools which I use a lot, and I really hope they can put this murky event behind them and go back to the way they were.

n.b : link to the full page ads : http://imgur.com/a/hb3nt

Re: Facebook is misleading Indians with its full-page ads about Free Basics

#5

Post by logingone » Fri, Dec 25, 2015, 3:53 PM UTC

gamekathu wrote: post #4

finally more people are speaking about it. its sad to see facebook revert to cheap publicity stunt tactics to get their way around. I always had a good impression of FB specially for their open source tools which I use a lot, and I really hope they can put this murky event behind them and go back to the way they were. n.b : link to the full page ads : http://imgur.com/a/hb3nt

Really? My first encounter with facebook was when I got spammed by a guy I barely knew, along with the rest of his email address book. I've always found the company to be slimy.

Re: Facebook is misleading Indians with its full-page ads about Free Basics

#6

Post by gamekathu » Fri, Dec 25, 2015, 3:59 PM UTC

logingone wrote: post #5

gamekathu wrote: post #4

finally more people are speaking about it. its sad to see facebook revert to cheap publicity stunt tactics to get their way around. I always had a good impression of FB specially for their open source tools which I use a lot, and I really hope they can put this murky event behind them and go back to the way they were. n.b : link to the full page ads : http://imgur.com/a/hb3nt

Really? My first encounter with facebook was when I got spammed by a guy I barely knew, along with the rest of his email address book. I've always found the company to be slimy.

The company might be super slimy, but their engineering team has made huge improvements to the modern web / app development and had gifted us with the awesome open source tools. Only because of them I had a positive outlook of the company

Re: Facebook is misleading Indians with its full-page ads about Free Basics

#7

Post by ghughes » Fri, Dec 25, 2015, 4:15 PM UTC

Even if this is entirely well-intentioned, which is certainly up for debate, it sets a precedent that will eventually see the world's most powerful media corporations become gatekeepers of the internet.

The web has been so successful because of any one of us can fire up a text editor and create the next phenomenon without spending a single dollar or seeking anyone's permission.

This is not charity, it is a coup d'état.

Re: Facebook is misleading Indians with its full-page ads about Free Basics

#8

Post by firasd » Fri, Dec 25, 2015, 4:17 PM UTC

I don’t have much to add after the last couple threads on this (my concerns boil down to the importance of net neutrality, and the obscuring way free Facebook plus a few dozen apps is presented as philanthropy) but it’s interesting that after 36 countries, as they say, “embraced” internet.org, India may finally be where Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitions run aground.

We have a specific mix of an established tech ecosystem, educated middle class, and active (though imperfect) democracy, all of which combined to spark a grassroots movement for net neutrality. I hope we can resist Facebook’s lobbying, whether visible marketing like this or backroom deals with telecom networks and governments.

P.S. Not to mention the aspect I’ve seen many people bring up: a Western corporation trying to aggressively meddle in India has an unhappy precedent.

Re: Facebook is misleading Indians with its full-page ads about Free Basics

#9

Post by ino » Fri, Dec 25, 2015, 4:25 PM UTC

gamekathu wrote: post #6

logingone wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? My first encounter with facebook was when I got spammed by a guy I barely knew, along with the rest of his email address book. I've always found the company to be slimy.

The company might be super slimy, but their engineering team has made huge improvements to the modern web / app development and had gifted us with the awesome open source tools. Only because of them I had a positive outlook of the company

If you write apps for their ecosystem, you've been fucked real, but real hard at least 6 times in the last 6 years. From unkept promises to everchanging rules, terms and api.

Re: Facebook is misleading Indians with its full-page ads about Free Basics

#10

Post by mtgx » Fri, Dec 25, 2015, 4:43 PM UTC

Over the next few years, someone should also look into how much of that "philanthropy" money is going into Internet.org from Zuckerberg - mainly because I'd hate for him to get away with most people believing he's giving away his fortune for the good of mankind, when in fact he'd just be propping up Facebook, but with fewer taxes on his money.