Helani Galpaya and Peter Cihon were interviewed on their work on user perspectives on zero-rated content in Myanmar. The article draws on findings from both Mozilla commissioned qualitative research, as well the nationally representative surveys on ICT use and information needs.
“In Myanmar and a lot of developing countries, Facebook is the internet, whether it’s free or not,” Galpaya said. Cihon noted that in some cases, Telenor Free users don’t distinguish between Facebook and the rest of the internet. They can access the full range of the social media platform’s features, and because Facebook is a dominant force in the country, people don’t feel incentivized to look for other resources. Galpaya said that Facebook’s prominence creates a cycle because political parties, companies, and other organizations all have Facebook pages so between their content and the news, entertainment and personal updates that already attract people to the platform, there’s no reason for users to leave it.
The full article can be accessed here
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