Indian government panel puts Facebook’s Internet.org in the dock. What’s your take?

An Indian government panel has said that initiatives such as Facebook’s Internet.org violate net neutrality. The department of telecommunication (DoT) panel was set up to make recommendations on a host of issues, including internet calls and messaging apps. The government will take a final call on these proposals after also hearing what the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has to say.

On Internet.org, the DoT says that Facebook is acting as a gatekeeper in determining which websites will be on Internet.org. “Collaborations between telecom operators and content providers that enable such a gate-keeping role to be played by any entity should be actively discouraged.”

Facebook immediately reacted to this: “Internet.org acts as a gateway, as opposed to a gatekeeper, to Internet access by breaking down the cost, infrastructure, and social barriers that exist today,” Facebook Vice-President for Mobile and Global Access Policy Kevin Martin said in a statement reported by Press Trust of India.

It was leading telco Bharti Airtel which made net neutrality a bone of contention when it came out with an Airtel Zero plan. There would be zero data charges for consumers accessing mobile apps on this platform. The tech community smelt a rat and pointed out that tech startups would be placed a t a disadvantage if Airtel put only a few apps on the “free” platform. Speculation was that companies would have to pay to be on Airtel Zero. The well-funded Flipkart initially hopped on to it but then backtracked when it got flak.

When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg came to India in February last year and launched Internet.org in partnership with telco Reliance Communications (RCOM), it was billed as an effort to bridge the digital divide by giving poor people free access to a selection of education, health, and media apps, including Facebook. But when the Airtel Zero controversy erupted, the Facebook initiative also got dragged into it.

Now India’s tech community has become charged with the need to defend net neutrality, especially with the DoT panel proposing regulation of internet calls over apps like Skype and WhatsApp. “While we’re yet to see the final outcome, net neutrality is critical for internet startups and the startup ecosystem. A level playing field available by net neutrality makes it conducive for startups to launch businesses and eventually promote them. The very fact that we see internet startups thriving and related innovation is for there aren’t entry barriers. Additional controls by ISPs could polarise the situation in favor of established businesses,” says Shobhit Arora, founder of World Art Community.

Facebook’s response is nuanced, pointing to a need to balance the concerns of the tech community with the reality of a large swathe of India’s population excluded from the digital world. “The preservation of the core principles of net neutrality and the promotion of innovation and infrastructure within the context of India’s Internet access challenges are critical to bringing more people online,” says Martin.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi recently launched a Digital India drive to make the country an “innovation hub.” But how to get there is the moot point. Preserve net neutrality at all cost, or make free access a twin objective and find a middle path? What do you think?

(Top image by Microsiervos Geek Crew)