Facebook is committed to Net neutrality

New Delhi: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday said his company is committed to net neutrality but supported zero-rating plans which have been criticised by many as violative of the principles of free Internet.

Speaking at his first Townhall in India, the young billionaire said the world’s largest social network is working both in terms of supporting regulations around that principle and building an open platform for developers.

When asked if Facebook supports net neutrality, Zuckerberg said: “Absolutely. Net neutrality is important principle. We do a lot to support both in terms of regulation and in our own work building an open platform that any developer can build something for regardless of who they are if they follow the basic rules.”

Facebook's Internet.org, which aims to bring free Internet access to the developing world, has faced backlash with activists alleging that it violates network neutrality, the idea that all online traffic should be treated equally.

“Internet.org and Facebook are 100 per cent supportive of net neutrality, we lobby for it across the world, we build an open platform with no filtering but at the same time we also need to make sure that we continue to push for access,” Zuckerberg said adding providing free Internet to everyone in world is expensive.