The wheels are coming off Facebook’s Internet.org initiative in India with at least four websites deciding to exit the platform. Following a backlash from the supporters of network neutrality, Cleartrip, NDTV, TimesJobs and Maharashtra Times said they were walking out of Internet.org.
Cleartrip was the first to exit. “The debate around network neutrality gave us pause to rethink our approach to Internet.org and the idea of large corporations getting involved with picking who gets access to what and how fast. What started off with providing a simple search service has us now concerned with influencing customer decision-making by forcing options on them,” the travel portal said in a blog post.
Internet.org is a global initiative launched by Facebook for giving free Internet access to consumers. Facebook had started this as a tool to reach the next billion users, who may not be able to afford data services. For example, in India, the Internet.org platform runs on Reliance Communications’ network and gives free access to about 30 sites. Supporters of net neutrality said this discriminates against other websites for which users will have to pay data charges.
A Times Group official said it will put pull out TimesJobs and Maharashtra Times from Internet.org but the Times of India website will be withdrawn only if direct competitors India Today , BBC and IBNLive pull out. NDTV’s Prannoy Roy tweeted that “NDTV is committed to net neutrality and is therefore exiting … Facebook’s initiative”.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said Internet.org and net neutrality could exist together. “For people who are not on the Internet though, having some connectivity and some ability to share is always much better than having no ability to connect and share at all,” he said on the website.