PM Narendra Modi tilts towards Facebook's Internet.org, draws flak

However, it was Modi's meeting with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg that was keenly watched by India because of the contentious internet. org initiative of the social network. Facebook's internet. org, which was renamed "Free Basics" just before the Modi visit, aims to provide free access to basic Internet services by partnering with telecom companies.






Such practices, commonly referred to as "zero-rating", allows users to access select applications or websites, free of data charges, by striking deals with telecom operators.


"Any endeavor that promotes Digital India should in no uncertain terms be at odds with the spirit of an open internet," said Patel in the letter.


The net neutrality dialogue in India has hotly debated zero-rating practices which are seen as a "walled garden" that would provide selective Internet access to people who sign up.

Though the government did not take an explicit stand on zero-rating or internet.org during the visit, a controversy erupted in India when Facebook's launch of a profile picture tool to support the Digital India programme was seen as supporting internet.org.


"It's important to remember that Digital India should first be about public interest," said Chinmayi Arun, research director at the Center for Communication Governance at National Law University. "After that, if any industry is to benefit from the infrastructure, then the government should see it as an opportunity for growth of Indian industry," she added.

Some, however did not see anything amiss. "India's first BJP government enabled Indian poor to get access to mobile telephony at prices they can afford and its second could provide Indians with an Internet that reflects the world's largest democracy's commitment to equality and human dignity," said Mishi Choudhary, Legal Director, Software Freedom Law Centre.


"Prime Minister Modi's visit to Silicon Valley is to make that possible," she added.

During the visit, Zuckerberg, Modi, Minister Prasad and several other Facebook executives covered their Facebook profile pictures in the tricolour to show support for the Digital India initiative. Facebook had rolled out internet. org in India last year with telecom operator Reliance, and came under fire from several quarters who said the initiative violates the principle of net neutrality or enabling equal Internet access for everyone. "We should not be thinking of access to the Internet in terms of binaries- that we either subscribe to internet.org or not.


The question to ask is how to bridge the digital divide by best possible means, by free access to all information online, with no single company or institution playing gatekeeper," said CCG's Arun.

In a letter addressed to Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said making Internet access universal should not be "held hostage by a few foreign corporations". Modi met Facebook, Microsoft, Tesla and Cisco among others during his visit to the Silicon Valley, and sought their support for the Digital India initiative - the Rs 1.13 lakh crore programm which seeks to "transform the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy".

Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in India after his maiden Silicon Valley visit, the Opposition has attacked the government's apparent inclination towards Facebook's controversial internet.org programm, fanning the debate around net neutrality, which they feel may be compromised in a bid to realise Digital India's objectives.