“We’re disappointed that Free Basics is no longer available in Egypt as of December 30, 2015”, she said.
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Facebook also said that it will try to resolve the situation in Egypt to bring back the Free Basics program; and added: “We are committed to Free Basics, and we’re going to keep working to serve our community to provide access to connectivity and valuable services”.
Facebook’s Free Basics service allows users access to Facebook and some other websites free of charge and without using mobile data, which can be expensive in Egypt.
Lashing out at Facebook (like virtually everybody else) for its “opinion poll” strategy towards getting support for its Free Basics initiative, TRAI has now rejected the 1.4 Million plus comments received by it in support of Free Basics, calling them “not meaningful” since they don’t specifically answer the queries posed by the regulator.
Developed under Facebook’s Internet.org branch, the service had over 3 million users in Egypt, a third of which were first-time users.
“India is a test case for a company like Facebook and what happens here will affect the roll out of this service in other smaller countries where perhaps there is not so much awareness at present”, said Mishi Choudhary, a New York-based lawyer who works on technology and Internet advocacy issues. The opponents of Free Basics are understandably concerned that Facebook, a powerful multinational corporation, could through Free Basics mediate the digital access of millions of poor Indians. “We know that for India to make progress, more than 1 billion people need to be connected to the Internet”.
This push has generated significant controversy, particularly in India, where critics say the effort is forcing users into a version of the Internet that is mediated entirely by Facebook.
In addition to Zuckerberg’s opinion piece, the social media giant has also taken out full-page ads in a number of Indian newspapers advocating for Free Basics.
While the reason behind Egypt’s ban is still unclear, it more than likely has to do with the criticisms concerning Free Basics and net neutrality. “We can receive education and healthcare and communication and access to new services”, he said in the video post. In essence, what is being asked for by anti-Free Basics voices is that the government use clauses in the telecom licence agreement that permit arbitrary state action, and that it use these clauses in order to restrict consumer choice.
The coalition has said that Facebook is misleading users and cautioned that the free service could be replete with advertising if and when it’s implemented.
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“Our job is to make a policy that is in the interest of telecom operators and end users in India”, Sharma said.
