Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg was disenchanted with the Indian ruling and stated that the corporate was nonetheless “working to interrupt down obstacles to connectivity in India and around the globe”.
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Facebook had been embroiled in a lengthy and public battle with TRAI and pro net neutrality activists for its Free Basics service, which it had launched with RCom.
Aside from the ban on offering differential pricing based on content, service providers are also not allowed to into any arrangement, agreement or contract with entities that would have the same effect of discriminatory tariffs for data services.
India is considered by many analysts as Facebook’s biggest market. It’s a victory for critics who argued that Facebook’s “Free Basics” program gave an unfair advantage to some Internet services over others. Andreessen apologized several times and has not tweeted in the days since, rare for the voluble venture capitalist.
The disagreement seems to come down to a fundamental difference of understanding of what counts as net neutrality. She will be moving back to the United States after a long, six-year stint at that position.
The analyst said that with this new regulation, Facebook will not be able to enter into any agreements with telecoms services providers or ISPs in India to subsidize or differentiate access to the company’s site. These groups said the poor should be provided access to the Internet at large and not a few websites. “Why stop now?” This tweet was not well-received by netizens all over India, and was highly criticized for being inconsiderate towards the country’s history and culture.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called Andreessen out: “I found the comments deeply upsetting, and they do not represent the way Facebook or I think at all”.
He then went on to explicitly support the broader adoption of open source software, arguing that it would help the booming digital economy in India from being locked into buying from a specific company and enable a broader and more equitable internet for all.
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Talking about the time she’s in India, Reddy said: “So let’s make sure we make the overdue coffee catchups happen! Our two daughters start high school and middle school this coming year- which serves as a natural transition point to make this move back”, said Reddy, who was the first Facebook employee in India.
