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The Cost of Free Basics in India: Does Facebook's 'walled garden' reduce or reinforce digital inequalities?
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by
Amrita Sengupta
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published
Apr 05, 2025
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filed under:
Free Basics,
Facebook,
Internet Governance
In this essay—written in April 2016 soon after India's Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) upheld net neutrality and effectively banned Free Basics in India— the author uses development theories to study the Free Basics programme. The author explored three key paradigms: 1) Construction of knowledge, power structures and virtual colonization in the Free Basics Programme, (2) A sub-internet of the marginalized and (3) the Capabilities Approach and explored how the programme reinforces levels of digital inequalities as opposed to reducing it. This essay was written in 2016 and there have been various shifts in the digital and tech landscape. Further a lot of numbers and statistics are from 2016 and not all ideas held here may be transferable today. This should be read as such. This is being published now, on account of 10 years since the Free Basics project was set to be implemented in India.
Located in
Internet Governance
/
Blog
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India's ‘Facebook ruling’ is another nail in the coffin of the MNO model
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by
Prasad Krishna
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published
Feb 28, 2016
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last modified
Feb 28, 2016 03:44 AM
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filed under:
Social Media,
Telecom,
Free Basics,
TRAI,
Internet Governance,
Freedom of Speech and Expression
Ability to access 'net from mobe no longer considered a miracle.
Located in
Telecom
/
News & Media
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Why the Internet is Making India Furious
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by
Prasad Krishna
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published
Feb 28, 2016
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filed under:
Free Basics,
Freedom of Speech and Expression,
Internet Governance,
Social Media
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) in Bangalore is a kind of hacker club for wonks and lawyers obsessed with issues of digital rights and global development. Not exactly the mainstream kids’ lunch table. But the Center was brought into sudden relief this week, thanks to … Mark Zuckerberg.
Located in
Internet Governance
/
News & Media
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Why India snubbed Facebook's free Internet offer
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by
Prasad Krishna
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published
Feb 27, 2016
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last modified
Feb 27, 2016 07:49 AM
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filed under:
Free Basics,
Freedom of Speech and Expression,
Internet Governance,
Censorship
The social media giant wanted to give the people of India free access to a chunk of the Internet, but the people weren't interested.
Located in
Internet Governance
/
News & Media
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Net Neutrality Advocates Rejoice As TRAI Bans Differential Pricing
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by
Subhashish Panigrahi
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published
Feb 23, 2016
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filed under:
Social Media,
Free Basics,
Net Neutrality,
Freedom of Speech and Expression,
Internet Governance
India would not see any more Free Basics advertisements on billboards with images of farmers and common people explaining how much they benefited from this Facebook project.
Located in
Internet Governance
/
Blog
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Internet Freedom
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by
Sunil Abraham and Vidushi Marda
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published
Feb 15, 2016
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filed under:
Social Media,
Free Basics,
TRAI,
Net Neutrality,
Freedom of Speech and Expression,
Internet Governance
The modern medium of the web is an open-sourced, democratic world in which equality is an ideal, which is why what is most important is Internet freedom.
Located in
Internet Governance
/
Blog
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Facebook’s Free Basics hits snag in India
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by
Prasad Krishna
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published
Feb 15, 2016
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filed under:
Social Media,
Free Basics,
Net Neutrality,
Freedom of Speech and Expression,
Internet Governance
Indian regulators have dealt a major blow to Facebook’s controversial Free Basics online access plan by forbidding so-called differential pricing by internet companies, in effect banning the programme in the country.
Located in
Internet Governance
/
News & Media
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Zuckerberg's Plan Spurned as India Backs Full Net Neutrality
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by
Prasad Krishna
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published
Feb 15, 2016
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filed under:
Social Media,
Free Basics,
TRAI,
Net Neutrality,
Facebook,
Internet Governance
Facebook Inc.’s plans for expansion in India have suffered a major setback.
Located in
Internet Governance
/
News & Media
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Trai upholds Net Neutrality in setback to Facebook’s Free Basics
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by
Prasad Krishna
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published
Feb 15, 2016
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filed under:
Free Basics,
TRAI,
Net Neutrality,
Internet Governance
Trai says Internet service providers will not be allowed to discriminate on pricing of data access for different web services.
Located in
Internet Governance
/
News & Media
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There is No Such Thing as Free Basics
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by
Subhashish Panigrahi
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published
Feb 14, 2016
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filed under:
Free Basics,
TRAI,
Facebook,
Internet Governance
India would not see the rain of Free Basics advertisements on billboards with images of farmers and common people explaining how much they could benefit from this Firefox project. Because the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has taken a historical step by banning the differential pricing without discriminating services.
Located in
Internet Governance
/
Blog
