The Ongoing Story Of Facebook Free Basics And India

The fight between India's regulators and Facebook doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon. The current issue is on the social network's Free Basics initiative, which centres on making the Internet available for free. Free Basics gives access to sites like Wikipedia, AccuWeather, etc., in addition to the social media's own app.

It is run by Facebook, which has also persuaded several local telecom companies to cover the data charges. It has been running in 37 countries. However, in India, it unexpectedly ran into controversy that led to the said initiative being temporarily suspended last December by the Telecom Regulator Authority of India (TRAI). As of now, the suspension is still in effect while a review of Free Basics and the laws that it might have violated are discussed by the ones in charge.

But the social media didn't take the decision in a laidback manner; instead, it fought back with full-page newspaper adverts describing the Free Basics project, the plans and goals, plus the benefits it can give to the public. There are also Facebook messages sent to users in India urging them to support the social media and let their voice be heard by TRAI.

However, it turns out that Facebook needs to defend its project not only against the regulators but against other entrepreneurs, groups and other Internet activists as well. Some of these groups are against Free Basics because according to them, the project is a walled garden and the concept of this initiative goes against the spirit of an open Internet. According to them, net neutrality has been compromised.

And like any other project or initiative, whenever there are critics, there will also be supporters along the way. According to Facebook, its initiative is not compromising net neutrality at all. And there are global regulators who seem to agree with them and are their big-time supporters. The same supporters have also backed the initiative of free access to certain contents as long as the competition is not affected along the way.

This, however, is not enough for the critics as the fight seems to continue and be prolonged. A solution to this Facebook dilemma doesn't seem likely to be of reach. The story seems far from over, the climax seems to be a long way ahead and the characters might still be trying to eliminate each other. But the fight is still there; the pages seem to extend. And for how long, one could only guess, unless of course miraculously both parties reach a common ground or one gives up in the end.