In an email sent to page administrators and media partners, Facebook said it will start testing a feature for offline videos from July 11. Facebook is now taking one step forward as they get ready for the Offline Videos.
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With the option to go offline, Facebook wants to ensure users in India, who might not always have great connectivity everywhere, have a chance to watch the video later.
Facebook’s terms and conditions clearly state that all content uploaded by a user including those consisting of a persons’ Intellectual Property (IP) can be reposted, or re-used anywhere within the platform, while it acquires “a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License)”.
“Starting July 11, 2016, we’ll be rolling out the option for a small group of people to download videos to their Facebook app while they’re online with good Internet connections, so they can then watch the video at any time, offline or online”, the email says. The move allows users to only download original videos featured on personal accounts or Pages.
We take content security very seriously, so downloaded content will be stored in the Facebook application alone and will not be available to share or view in other applications. We’ve heard feedback that in markets like India, mobile data and internet connectivity is limited and many people struggle with poor video experiences.
Videos from all Pages and profiles will be available to download, unless the page or profile opts out. The company launched Facebook Lite, a barebones version of its mobile app, last year, which was built to work on ultra-low end smartphones and use minimal data.
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“People are coming online at a staggering rate in emerging markets and, in most cases, are doing so on mobile”, a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch. Consequently, Facebook’s growth in the developing Indian market hinges on the costly mobile data usage tied to its app.
