JOIN USFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that he is committed to support net neutrality even as his firm’s free service Internet.org faces criticism in India.
When asked if he supports net neutrality during a Townhall Q&A event at IIT-Delhi, Zuckerberg said: “Absolutely. We support net neutrality. In terms of regulation, countries are figuring out what rules they want and we are supportive of that.”
Critics fear that Internet.org, now rebranded as Free Basics, will promote only Facebook and its partners, while restricting access to sites that aren’t registered with it.
But Zuckerberg laid to rest what he called “rumours” and insisted that Internet.org is not in conflict with universal access. “We lobby for net neutrality across the world but at the same time, we continue to push for access,” he said.
In his response to critics, he said, “I see these petitions going around. But people who are not on the internet can’t sign an online petition.”
He also advocated net neutrality regulations similar to the one in the United States. “The US put in strong net neutrality regulations which we supported. In other countries, we are figuring out what rules they want and supporting that,” he said. On why India is an important market for the social media giant, he said, “India is the world’s largest democracy. If you want to connect everyone to Internet, can’t leave India out.”
“A billion people do not have access to the Internet yet. It's really a tool that provides vital infrastructure to our life – health, education, jobs. For every 10 people who get access to the Internet, one person gets lifted out of poverty, and one gets a job,” he added.
On ensuring better net connectivity, Zuckerberg said Internet.org will be made widely available with solar-powered planes to beam down connectivity. He added that Facebook also plans to put satellites in space to provide Internet connectivity. In a comic relief for those attending the Q&A session, Zuckerberg also addressed the problem of “annoying” Candy Crush game invites.
“I told my developers that ‘can we have a solution to this problem by the time I do my Q&A?’. So we are doing it now,” Zuckerberg said, in his reply to the “most voted” question on his Facebook post.