Fallacy of Facebook’s “free Internet” in Bangladesh


Posted on May 12, 2015  /  0 Comments

I have attempted to access www.internet.org and ended up with viewing the following message instead:

Right now, Internet.org is only available with a Robi Axiata Ltd. SIM card. Want to use Internet.org with your current mobile operator? Let us know.

Accessing internet.org is, evidently, an exclusive privilege the mobile data customers of Robi enjoy. Such discriminated access to this Facebook-led platform contradicts fundamental principles of Net Neutrality. Facebook has been struggling with saving its face in India.

Robi Axiata may find value in creating a marketing hype although its Indonesian sibling, XL Axiata, has ditched internet.org on commercial ground. Mahesh Murthy explains “Why Facebook’s Internet.org amounts to economic racism” and Josh Levy calls internt.org as “Facebooknet” in an op-ed column in Wired online.

This kind of connectivity is not “the internet.” It’s more accurate to call it the “Facebooknet.” Internet.org will offer websites and services that are submitted directly to it, similar to how users choose apps from Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store. A truly open internet cannot, and must not, work like an app store with one company holding the key.

Therefore, the Bangladesh government should reconsider its desperation for going to bed with Facebook.

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