Mark Zuckerberg defended Facebook's Free Basics program during a town hall meeting at IIT Delhi, claiming it supports net neutrality by providing neutral access to basic internet services. However, critics argue Free Basics undermines net neutrality by allowing Facebook to determine which sites are included and act as a gatekeeper. Tim Berners-Lee has been especially outspoken against programs like Free Basics, saying they hand over control to internet companies and prevent innovative new services. Zuckerberg maintained Free Basics expands access for those not currently online, but some argue alternative programs from telecom operators could also expand access while preserving net neutrality. The issue remains complex with reasonable arguments on both sides.

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Facebook CEO Turns On Charm Offensive, Slams Net
Neutrality Activists
by Gadgets 360 Staff , 28 October 2015
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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was in Delhi on Wednesday to hold a Facebook
townhall meeting, answering a Q&A session out of the IIT-Delhi campus. Around
thirty minutes into the Q&A townhall where he answered questions that were posted
on his Facebook profile, as well as some pre-screened questions from IIT students,
Miriam George, Assistant Professor of Bengaluru-based CMR institute of
technology, posed the question - '"Does Internet.org support net neutrality
fully, let's say 100 percent without any filters?"
"Absolutely. Net neutrality is an important principle. We do a lot to support it, both in
terms of pushing for regulation that kind of enables this, and in our own work -
building an open platform that any developer can build something for regardless of

2. who they are, as long as they follow the basic rules of what Internet.org is,"
Zuckerberg said.
Countries are still figuring out their regulations around net neutrality, he said, and
that Facebook had given its support for, and suggested clear rules when the US had
put in its net neutrality regulations.
Things are a little different in India though, where Facebook's position on net
neutrality is less clear cut. An Indian government panel on net neutrality had said in
July this year that apps like Internet.org should not be allowed, as Facebook's role as
gatekeeper in determining what websites were on the Free Basics Program was
seen as violating net neutrality.
Even though Facebook is calling Free Basics an open platform, its own guidelines
show that this is not the case. Submission to be a part of Free Basics does not
guarantee that a site will be available through the platform, which means that there is
still a selection process - one which is not made transparent in its participation
guidelines.
(Also Read Facebook's Internet.org: New Name, Same Problems)
"There have been a lot of stories over here in India that suggest that what we're
trying to do with Internet.org is just have a small set of Internet services that people
can use, and somehow make it so people can't have access to the rest. That really
couldn't be further from the truth," he said, adding that the free basics program
makes it so that any developer that meets the definition of a basic service, that is not
very high bandwidth, or rich video, or not directly cannibalising a lot of the operator
business.
In late September, Facebook rebranded Internet.org as Free Basics, and Zuckerberg
has turned the charm offensive on then as well, by having Prime Minister Narendra
Modi visit the Facebook campus.
"Anyone can kind of operate their services for free, and it will be zero rated through
the Free Basics program that we have. It provides this neutral platform where we're
not being a filter on any of the content that goes into that, and I think that's really
important," he said. Net Neutrality activists have criticised Facebook's missionary
proselytism when it comes to Facebook's approach towards developing nations. One
of its most critics is Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, who has

3. said they should be outlawed, as they hand "immense power to telcos and online
service operators," and "crowd out competition and snuff out innovative new services
before they even see the light of day."
(*Also Read: 'Just Say No' to Internet.org: Tim Berners-Lee)
The Free Basics program was a step backward, he was quoted as saying in a recent
Guardian Interview earlier this month, where he pointed out that if something that is
being offered in the name of the Internet and isn't the full Internet, then it's not really
free and public, and that customers should "just say no" to cut down versions of the
web.
"I'll leave you with a thought on this. Most of the folks who are pushing for net
neutrality have access to the Internet already. I see this petitions going around net
neutrality, and that's great. We need to mobilise on the Internet to push for this stuff.
But the people who are not on the Internet, can't sign an online petition pushing for
increased access to the Internet," Zuckerberg said. "We all have a moral
responsibility to look out for people who do not have the Internet, and make sure that

4. the rules that kind of benefit us and make sure that operators can't do anything that
hurt us, don't get twisted, and hurt people who don't have a voice," he added.
Zuckerberg seems to be uninformed about COAI's Sabka Internet, Sab ka
Vikas campaign launched in May. The initiative for telecom operators to make
Internet accessible, possibly under their own zero-rating plans, and had claimed
support for 4 million Indian mobile users in under a week. Missed call campaigns
have been able to leverage the voices of those not on the Internet quite well.
Despite this, Zuckerberg stuck to the company line of both net neutrality and Free
Basics. According to Zuckerberg, the US regulations are very clear on net neutrality,
with completely separate in terms of how they treat zero ratings. "And that's a
country where most people have access to the Internet. It's not like India, where a
billion people don't have access to the Internet, and even more innovations are
necessary to expand on that," he said. "Just this week, the EU just released rules on
net neutrality and zero ratings which are very clear that zero ratings, and things that
provide some free access to the Internet are kind of clear to go, they are going to be
regulated separately," he said.
Internet.org is presently live in 24 countries around the world, with 15 million people
who have access to the Internet now, who wouldn't have had it otherwise, Mark
Zuckerberg said at the townhall meeting, adding that it doubled Internet growth rates
in countries where it had been introduced.
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Tags: Facebook, Free Basics, IIT Delhi, India, Internet, Internet.Org, Mark Zuckerberg, Net
Neutrality, Zero Ratings