Here’s How the Indian Internet Is Fighting Back against Free Basics
The Indian Internet has come together to support net neutrality and oppose Facebook's Free Basics initiative — which many claim is against the core principles of the Internet. Here's how they're banding together: elite and anonymous, across the shimmering data-streams of the electronic online.
The Free Basics debate is going strong in India. With Facebook pushing hard — full-page ads and Mark Zuckerberg’s editorials in Indian papers — Internet users are pushing back equally as hard.
Here are some of the ways in which Indians are fighting for their right to a free and fair Internet:
1. Speaking out on Twitter:
If FreeBasics is really FREE then why is FB spending millions on ads for its promotion.Act wisely.Don’t sign #SaveTheInternet#NetNeutrality
IIT and IISc faculty have already sent a signed petition to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Now the CEOs of nine Indian startups — including Zomato and PayTM — have also sent a petition to the TRAI t prevent indian telecom operators “from acting as gate-keepers offering restricted Internet services instead of the Open Internet.”
4. Rebutting the Free Basics proposals through blog posts:
You can read Mahesh Murthy’s spirited argument against Free Basics here. He has also defended Indians’ right to a free a fair Internet on TV news debates.
