Difference between revisions of "Free Basics"

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*Suriname (Digicel)
 
*Suriname (Digicel)
 
*Turks and Caicos (Digicel)
 
*Turks and Caicos (Digicel)
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==Backlash and Ethical Issues==
 
==Backlash and Ethical Issues==
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===Net Neutrality in India===
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After launching Free Basics, in various regions, Facebook faced backlash. The primary point of contention was that Free Basics violated Net Neutrality principles. Net Neutrality asserts that all services and sites on the "net" should be treated equally by providers.<ref? Chung, Alex, and Chi Xing. “The Ethics of Net Neutrality.” DocPlayer, UCDavis, docplayer.net/29076932-The-ethics-of-net-neutrality.html.</ref> The goal of Net Neutrality is to preserve competition and prevent providers from favoring particular sites in order to maximize profits.
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This issue was shot into the spotlight soon after Facebook launched Free Basics in India in 2014. Indian activists declared that Free Basics created differential pricing for particular sites in that those that they approved were free and others had to be paid for which went agains Net Neutrality principles. <ref> Tripuraneni, Hanuman Chowdary. “The Free Basics (of Facebook) Debate in India.” Info, vol. 18, no. 3, 2016, pp. 1–3., doi:10.1108/info-02-2016-0005.</ref> The debate continued in India and was ended in 2016 when India's telecom regulator officially banned differential pricing for different services and kinds of data.The reasoning provided for this move was that if they allowed Facebook (or other potential violators) to decide what services to offer the portion of the population that remains offline, they are allowing Facebook to shape their Internet experience which is inherently unfair and in violation of Net Neutrality. <ref> Joshi, Sonam. “India Says Yes to Net Neutrality, No to Facebook's Free Basics.” Mashable, Mashable, 8 Feb. 2016, mashable.com/2016/02/08/india-bans-facebook-free-basics/#p3Ic_bgLPkqz. <r/ef> They ruled in favor of a free and open net.
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===Ethics===
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== References ==
 
== References ==
 
<references />
 
<references />

Revision as of 22:07, 11 March 2018

Free Basics is a partnership pioneered by Facebook and six other companies in an effort to bring access to limited Internet services into underdeveloped regions. It was founded in 2013 as internet.org and was later renamed. Free Basics , which is now only one project under the umbrella of internet.org [1]. The platform has enabled over 25 million people in 63 countries to access the Internet to date.

Through a mobile browser or an Android app, participants are given free access a participating sites[2]. This is completely free of charge.

About Free Basics

Reasoning

AfricaPhoneChart.png

Internet accessibility in Africa was around 15.5% according to a 2011/12 study conducted across 12 countries on the continent [3]. However, at the same time, cell phone ownership was on the rise (figure). Facebook viewed this as an opportunity to bring millions online and “bridge the accessibility gap.” [4].

In his paper where he explained why Free Basics was needed, Zuckerberg estimated that around two-thirds of the world population does not connect with the Internet. Furthermore, the reason is not that they can not achieve access, but that they cannot afford it. Zuckerberg believes Internet access is a human right with the power to help lift people out of poverty. [5]

To bring them online, Facebook made partnerships with phone carriers in the target regions who allow them to provide the free access to between 200-450 services. [6] These service include Facebook, world news, job search sites and other educational information that can be used to make more informed decisions and actions.

Internet.org and Rebranding

Internet.org was created by Facebook to work towards bringing everyone in the world online under the assumption that accessibility is a human right and can help improve the quality of lives. Internet.org started with the program that is now known as Free Basics. However, as time progressed they developed more programs to help achieve their goal. One such program launched in 2014. The Connectivity Lab is working to bring people online by developing drones and other advanced technologies that can bring internet access to communities around the world.

In 2015, the Internet.org application was rebranded as Free Basics in an effort to clarify what it was doing and differentiate it from the rest of Internet.org. It is now only a part of Internet.org. Zuckerberg clarified that the goal of Free Basics is to bring people who cannot afford traditional access online. It does so by providing just the basics, and does not claim to be an equitable experience to paid Internet. This clarification came among backlash that the limited access may be in violation of Net Neutrality. [7]

Users

How to get Free Basics

Where you can get Free Basics

As of 2018, Free Basics is available in the following countries: [8]

Europe, Africa & Middle East
  • Algeria (Oordeoo)
  • Angola (Movicel)
  • Belarus (Life)
  • Benin (MTN & Etisalat)
  • Cape Verde (Unitel & CVMovel)
  • Chad (Tigo)
  • Congo (Airtel)
  • Côte D’ivoire (MTN)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo (Airtel & Vodacom)
  • Gabon (Airtel)
  • Ghana (Airtel & Tigo)
  • Guinea (Cellcom)
  • Guinea-Bissau (MTN)
  • Iraq (AsiaCell, Korek & Zain)
  • Jordan (Zain & Umniah)
  • Kenya (Airtel)
  • Liberia (Orange)
  • Madagascar (Orange & Blueline)
  • Malawi (Airtel & TNM)
  • Mauritania (Mauritel)
  • Mozambique (Mcel)
  • Niger (Airtel)
  • Nigeria (Airtel & 9 Mobile)
  • Rwanda (Airtel & Tigo)
  • Senegal (Tigo)
  • Seychelles (Airtel)
  • South Africa (Cell C)
  • Sudan (Zain)
  • Tanzania (Tigo, Airtel & Vodacom)
  • Togo (Moov)
  • Zambia (Airtel & MTN)
Asia Pacific
  • Bangladesh (Grameenphone & Robi)
  • Cambodia (Smart Axiata)
  • Indonesia (Indosat, XL Axiata)
  • Maldives (Ooredoo)
  • Mongolia (G-Mobile, Mobicom & Skytel)
  • Pakistan (Telenor & Zong)
  • Philippines (Globe & Smart)
  • Thailand (DTAC & TrueMove)
  • Timor-Leste (Telkomcel)
  • Vanuatu (Telecom)
  • Vietnam (Mobifone)
Latin America
  • Antigua and Barbuda (Digicel)
  • Aruba (Digicel)
  • Barbados (Digicel)
  • British Virgin Islands (Digicel)
  • Bonaire (Digicel)
  • Colombia (Tigo)
  • Curaçao (Digicel)
  • Dominica (Digicel)
  • Dominican Republic (Orange)
  • Grenada (Digicel)
  • Guatemala (Tigo)
  • Honduras (Tigo)
  • Jamaica (Digicel)
  • Mexico (Telcel & Virgin)
  • Montserrat (Digicel)
  • Panama (Digicel)
  • Peru (Bitel & Entel)
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis (Digicel)
  • Saint Vincent & the Grenadines (Digicel)
  • Suriname (Digicel)
  • Turks and Caicos (Digicel)

Backlash and Ethical Issues

Net Neutrality in India

After launching Free Basics, in various regions, Facebook faced backlash. The primary point of contention was that Free Basics violated Net Neutrality principles. Net Neutrality asserts that all services and sites on the "net" should be treated equally by providers.<ref? Chung, Alex, and Chi Xing. “The Ethics of Net Neutrality.” DocPlayer, UCDavis, docplayer.net/29076932-The-ethics-of-net-neutrality.html.</ref> The goal of Net Neutrality is to preserve competition and prevent providers from favoring particular sites in order to maximize profits.

This issue was shot into the spotlight soon after Facebook launched Free Basics in India in 2014. Indian activists declared that Free Basics created differential pricing for particular sites in that those that they approved were free and others had to be paid for which went agains Net Neutrality principles. [9] The debate continued in India and was ended in 2016 when India's telecom regulator officially banned differential pricing for different services and kinds of data.The reasoning provided for this move was that if they allowed Facebook (or other potential violators) to decide what services to offer the portion of the population that remains offline, they are allowing Facebook to shape their Internet experience which is inherently unfair and in violation of Net Neutrality. [10]
  1. ↑ “Free Basics by Facebook – English.” English, 12 Oct. 2016, info.internet.org/en/story/free-basics-from-internet-org/.
  2. ↑ Siddharth Singh, Vedant Nanda, Rijurekha Sen, Sohaib Ahmad, Satadal Sengupta, Amreesh Phokeer, Zaid Ahmed Farooq, Taslim Arefin Khan, Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, Ihsan Ayyub Qazi, David Choffnes, and Krishna P. Gummadi. 2017. An Empirical Analysis of Facebook’s Free Basics Program. In Proceedings of ACM Sigmetrics conference, Urbana-Champaign,IL, USA, June 05-09, 2017 (SIGMETRICS ’17), 2 pages. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3078505.3078554
  3. ↑ Stork, Christoph & Calandro, Enrico & Gillwald, Alison. (2013). Internet going mobile: Internet access and use in 11 African countries. Info - The journal of policy. 15. 10.1108/info-05-2013-0026.
  4. ↑ Siddharth Singh, Vedant Nanda, Rijurekha Sen, Sohaib Ahmad, Satadal Sengupta, Amreesh Phokeer, Zaid Ahmed Farooq, Taslim Arefin Khan, Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, Ihsan Ayyub Qazi, David Choffnes, and Krishna P. Gummadi. 2017. An Empirical Analysis of Facebook’s Free Basics Program. In Proceedings of ACM Sigmetrics conference, Urbana-Champaign,IL, USA, June 05-09, 2017 (SIGMETRICS ’17), 2 pages. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3078505.3078554 .
  5. ↑ Hempel, Jessi. “Facebook Renames Its Controversial Internet.org App.” Wired, Conde Nast, 29 June 2017, www.wired.com/2015/09/facebook-renames-controversial-internet-org-app/.
  6. ↑ Siddharth Singh, Vedant Nanda, Rijurekha Sen, Sohaib Ahmad, Satadal Sengupta, Amreesh Phokeer, Zaid Ahmed Farooq, Taslim Arefin Khan, Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, Ihsan Ayyub Qazi, David Choffnes, and Krishna P. Gummadi. 2017. An Empirical Analysis of Facebook’s Free Basics Program. In Proceedings of ACM Sigmetrics conference, Urbana-Champaign,IL, USA, June 05-09, 2017 (SIGMETRICS ’17), 2 pages. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3078505.3078554 .
  7. ↑ Mohan, Pavithra. “Facebook Rebrands Internet.Org App As ‘Free Basics.’” Fast Company, Fast Company, 25 Sept. 2015, www.fastcompany.com/3051576/facebook-rebrands-internetorg-app-as-free-basics.
  8. ↑ “Where We've Launched – English.” English, 25 Jan. 2018, info.internet.org/en/story/where-weve-launched/.
  9. ↑ Tripuraneni, Hanuman Chowdary. “The Free Basics (of Facebook) Debate in India.” Info, vol. 18, no. 3, 2016, pp. 1–3., doi:10.1108/info-02-2016-0005.
  10. ↑ Joshi, Sonam. “India Says Yes to Net Neutrality, No to Facebook's Free Basics.” Mashable, Mashable, 8 Feb. 2016, mashable.com/2016/02/08/india-bans-facebook-free-basics/#p3Ic_bgLPkqz. <r/ef> They ruled in favor of a free and open net.

    Ethics

    References

    1. ↑ “Free Basics by Facebook – English.” English, 12 Oct. 2016, info.internet.org/en/story/free-basics-from-internet-org/.
    2. ↑ Siddharth Singh, Vedant Nanda, Rijurekha Sen, Sohaib Ahmad, Satadal Sengupta, Amreesh Phokeer, Zaid Ahmed Farooq, Taslim Arefin Khan, Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, Ihsan Ayyub Qazi, David Choffnes, and Krishna P. Gummadi. 2017. An Empirical Analysis of Facebook’s Free Basics Program. In Proceedings of ACM Sigmetrics conference, Urbana-Champaign,IL, USA, June 05-09, 2017 (SIGMETRICS ’17), 2 pages. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3078505.3078554
    3. ↑ Stork, Christoph & Calandro, Enrico & Gillwald, Alison. (2013). Internet going mobile: Internet access and use in 11 African countries. Info - The journal of policy. 15. 10.1108/info-05-2013-0026.
    4. ↑ Siddharth Singh, Vedant Nanda, Rijurekha Sen, Sohaib Ahmad, Satadal Sengupta, Amreesh Phokeer, Zaid Ahmed Farooq, Taslim Arefin Khan, Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, Ihsan Ayyub Qazi, David Choffnes, and Krishna P. Gummadi. 2017. An Empirical Analysis of Facebook’s Free Basics Program. In Proceedings of ACM Sigmetrics conference, Urbana-Champaign,IL, USA, June 05-09, 2017 (SIGMETRICS ’17), 2 pages. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3078505.3078554 .
    5. ↑ Hempel, Jessi. “Facebook Renames Its Controversial Internet.org App.” Wired, Conde Nast, 29 June 2017, www.wired.com/2015/09/facebook-renames-controversial-internet-org-app/.
    6. ↑ Siddharth Singh, Vedant Nanda, Rijurekha Sen, Sohaib Ahmad, Satadal Sengupta, Amreesh Phokeer, Zaid Ahmed Farooq, Taslim Arefin Khan, Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, Ihsan Ayyub Qazi, David Choffnes, and Krishna P. Gummadi. 2017. An Empirical Analysis of Facebook’s Free Basics Program. In Proceedings of ACM Sigmetrics conference, Urbana-Champaign,IL, USA, June 05-09, 2017 (SIGMETRICS ’17), 2 pages. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3078505.3078554 .
    7. ↑ Mohan, Pavithra. “Facebook Rebrands Internet.Org App As ‘Free Basics.’” Fast Company, Fast Company, 25 Sept. 2015, www.fastcompany.com/3051576/facebook-rebrands-internetorg-app-as-free-basics.
    8. ↑ “Where We've Launched – English.” English, 25 Jan. 2018, info.internet.org/en/story/where-weve-launched/.
    9. ↑ Tripuraneni, Hanuman Chowdary. “The Free Basics (of Facebook) Debate in India.” Info, vol. 18, no. 3, 2016, pp. 1–3., doi:10.1108/info-02-2016-0005.
    10. ↑ Joshi, Sonam. “India Says Yes to Net Neutrality, No to Facebook's Free Basics.” Mashable, Mashable, 8 Feb. 2016, mashable.com/2016/02/08/india-bans-facebook-free-basics/#p3Ic_bgLPkqz. <r/ef> They ruled in favor of a free and open net.

      Ethics

      References

      <references/>

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