Facebook’s far from giving in. It’s canvassing for Free Basics in India

“It is even more stunning than I expected. It’s incredible what people can build — and what love can motivate us to build,” says the Zuck

India is Facebook’s second biggest market, with the potential to add thousands of new users every year. So it’s a no brainer why the social media giant wants to be ubiquitous in the country. The company wants access to “the next billion people,” who’ll use its platform and related apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. It’s pulling out all stops to further this aim.

Though Facebook wants to keep its business and CEO Zuckerberg’s internet.org plans somewhat separate, it can safely be said that one of its biggest moves to get more users on Facebook was the launch of internet.org, till netizens in India complained about Facebook’s supposedly evil scheme to disrupt net neutrality in the country. Zuckerberg explained otherwise, but in the end, had to relaunch his pet project under a new name, calling it a self explanatory “Free Basics.”

The company has been fighting a battle forever, causing a massive rift between users who are pro and against Facebook’s plans.

See: 5 ways Facebook is going all-out to win over IndiaSee: Facebook’s new internet.org is evilNow, the telecoms regulatory body in the country has scheduled a public hearing on net neutrality next month, ahead of which Facebook has been asking users in India to sign a petition for allowing Free Basics to live.

Except, for a short while, the company opened up the petition for users in the US, leaving people to wonder what the matter was. (Hattip to Re/code for spotting it).Tech In Asia reached out to Facebook asking about it, and a spokesperson said :

“We mistakenly turned on this notification for some people outside India last night for a short period of time. We fixed the issue as soon as we caught it.”

When Facebook launched its internet.org platform in India, it quickly turned into a mess for the world’s biggest social media platform.

Whether Free Basics will be allowed in India or not could have a telling impact on Zuckerberg’s vision for the world, because if scrapped in India, this could set an example in other developing markets where Facebook is looking to grow its base.

Facebook said :