The issue has also been hotly debated on Twitter, with technology and law experts leading the way.

Multiple stand-up comedy groups have created videos explaining the regulatory debate and supporting net neutrality, which have gone viral:Ībove, the third in a series of videos created by All India Bakchod, in partnership with SavetheInternet.in. The grassroots open Internet group, SavetheInternet.in, that has been advocating for net neutrality in India throughout 2015, has launched an email campaign asking users to send letters to TRAI explaining how Free Basics violates net neutrality principles and propagates an inaccurate picture of the Internet for new users by placing it inside the confines of Facebook's application. Indian netizens and activists have spoken out against the company's actions en masse, protesting heavily on social media, blogs and newspapers. The company has also purchased a smattering of billboard advertisements across the country and taken out numerous two-page ads in leading national newspapers, as seen above. The Free Basics page on Facebook now leads to a pleading form that asks users to contact the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and voice their support for making Free Basics available in India. Over the last week, Facebook users across India (and some in the US) upon logging into the site have been greeted with notifications urging them to take action. Net neutrality allows users equal access to any website they want to visit, and gives website operators equal opportunities to attract visitors.įacebook has responded to the pending regulation with an aggressive ad campaign both online and off. For open Internet advocates, this undercuts consumer choice and violates the principle of network neutrality, under which Internet providers are to treat all Internet traffic equally. The application does not give users access to the Internet at large.

Depending on how they're written, the rules could render Free Basics a violation of the policy.įree Basics, which has been deployed in 30 developing countries across the globe, gives users free access to websites that meet Facebook's technical standards for the application. This was published in Global Voices on December 29, 2015.īut the app has already been suspended, at least temporarily, as the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority considers new rules governing network neutrality.

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