Indian net neutrality activists are celebrating victory. In a landmark judgement last week regulators came down hard on Facebook, banning the Free Basics app, the company’s free, but stripped down version of the internet aimed at hundreds of millions of Indians. It also prohibited telecom service providers from charging different prices to consumers trying to access content on the internet. For activists the win was a culmination of an 11-month campaign on social media, creating hashtags, wildly popular YouTube videos and memes to break down the jargon and create a movement.
But not everyone is happy. Critics have said the fight for net neutrality in India is the cause of the urban, elite minority with commercial interests. Others disappointed in the judgement have called activists everything from hypocritical to biased against the nation’s poor. Facebook said “...we will continue our efforts to eliminate barriers and give the unconnected an easier path to the internet and the opportunities it brings.”
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