The Surprising Truth about Facebook's Internet.org
No, Internet.org is not a nonprofit organization that subsidizes Internet access for new users.
Mike Elgan | February 15, 2016
But this isn’t true—not any of it.
The realities of Internet.org came into question last week when India banned it from the country. If the Internet is good, and Internet.org simply exists to get people on it, why was it banned?
Let’s start with a basic question.
Facebook chooses which sites are included and which are rejected, and the local carriers may get veto power as well.Facebook has published these criteria, which are focused on the size of the data load, and has thus far not rejected any sites for reasons that are not technical. Facebook claims that any site, including competitors, are allowed to join Facebook’s Internet. For example, Facebook does not enforce the “community guidelines” required of companies setting up shop on Facebook.com.What’s really surprising is that Facebook isn’t even providing the subsidy—the local carriers are, according to a report on Buzzfeed.That same report also pointed out that nearly all Free Basics users were already on the Internet before they started using Free Basics. They simply use it to reduce their data bills. Carriers participate because it’s part of their customer acquisition strategy. It’s a “free” thing they can offer customers.
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| 'Free Basics by Facebook' replaces Internet.org website and app. Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/24/free-basics-by-facebook/ |
<more at http://www.pcworld.com/article/3033274/internet/the-surprising-truth-about-facebooks-internetorg.html; related links: http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/13/seeing-beyond-the-hubris-of-facebooks-free-basics-fiasco/ (Seeing Beyond The Hubris Of Facebook’s Free Basics Fiasco. February 13, 2016) and https://info.internet.org/en/story/free-basics-from-internet-org/ (Free Basics by Facebook)>
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