8 reasons why Facebook’s ‘Free Basics’ platform is distorted

Over the past few months, Facebook has been aggressively promoting their re-branded ‘Free basics’ platform, which the company launched in September after their first attempt “internet.org” was subjected to extensive criticism from online activists in India.

Recently the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had asked Reliance Communications to put a hold on Facebook’s ‘Free Basics’ after a series of protests triggered by various Indian start-ups, Internet activists, and even influential personalities. TRAI has also asked users to email their views on ‘Free basics’ by December 30, which will help them decide the platform’s fate.

Previously, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said “Free Basics” is a platform, which will not only help connect India’s rural populace, but will also be a step towards ‘digital equality’.

So why are so many start-ups and groups protesting against the platform? Well, here are 10 points that will help you understand why.

Violates net neutrality laws: Net Neutrality entitles users to access all content available on the Internet at equal speeds with out any kind of preferential pricing policy.

While the issue has been discussed over and over again since the beginning of 2015, the concept of net neutrality still seems blurred in India. Airtel’s Zero rating service was the first one to violate these regulations and was subjected to large-scale protests.

Earlier, Facebook said that the Free Basics platform is in full support of net neutrality. Interestingly, on the Free basics Platform, users only have free access to limited content, ignoring a vast content-base that is available online.

Facebook also said that anyone can join the platform and its not just for a few select partners. Unfortunately, out of all the services, only browsing Facebook and accessing partner websites are free. So much for net neutrality!

Paid users have to bear the brunt: Interestingly, Facebook does not pay for the Internet services under Free Basics platform. That means other telecom operators have to pay for the services, but how? From regular paid users, and there is a chance that data charges can shoot up for users who do not browse limited content.

Possibility of future ads: Facebook has stressed on the fact that the Free Basics service will not have any ads. However, there are a lot of things that start ad-free but after a while, you see ads spread like wildfire, and this can happen on this platform as well.

Well, having ads are fine but then why promote it as something that sounds humanitarian?

If it does not work, change the name: Anyone who has been following the whole development surely knows that Facebook just re-branded their earlier Internet.org campaign after it received heavy criticism from netizens in India.

Well, you might be interested to know that ‘Free Basics’ still functions the exact same way as Internet.org and only offers ‘free access’ to limited sites.

Economic racism: According to Facebook, Free Basics is a platform that will help rural India gain basic Internet access absolutely free of cost.

While it may sound good, the fact that they are just giving access to partner websites and barring majority of the content available online makes no sense.

So how is access to Facebook and some of its services equivalent to the whole Internet? Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has rightly said: “its poor internet for poor people in India.”

Deceptive endorsement: Facebook has recently started an online petition in favour of Free Basics in India and said that 3.2 million people are already supporting it. However, it must also be noted that Facebook has a user-base of around 125 million people, and 3.2 million is just a small fraction of it.

Additionally, some of the facts mentioned in the online petition will surely grab the attention of normal users and make them believe that Free Basics is helping improve India’s poverty problems. This is one of the biggest reasons driving myriad users to impulsively follow the ‘trend’.

Besides, who knows how many people from outside the country supported the petition, as Facebook ‘accidentally’ activated the Free Basics petition for people in the US.

Mandatory data sharing: Facebook said that the data collected from users on the platform will not be used to gain competitive advantage, which is funny considering the fact that all user activity on the social networking site is utilised to reflect user-specific content. Facebook has complete access to data usage patterns and other valuable information about every memeber who joins the platform.

For a start-up or a potential competitor, sharing any kind of data can lead to significant losses in business. This is one reason why start-ups have been protesting against the platform.

No, not everyone can join the Free Basics platform: Facebook said that the platform is not just for a few select partners and anyone individual or organisation can be a part of it.

However, Facebook can reject participants from joining the platform, and also change rules and regulations at anytime they want. So if you fail to comply with Facebook’s rules, you will not be able to join the ‘free’ platform.