Facebook clearly doesn’t want to rub India the wrong way!

The social media giant Facebook has said that it’s important to get the debate on Net Neutrality ‘right’ in India.

According to Facebook, India has over 8 lakh users in India under its Internet.org scheme – an initiative to bring together technology leaders, non-profits and local communities to connect the two thirds of the world that doesn't have Internet access yet.

The initiative, however, faced several criticisms but the US-based firm continues to defend Internet.org initiative, which offers free access to basic Internet services to consumers.

Extending his support to Net neutrality, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said that the regulatory framework needs to protect Net neutrality for consumers and also ensure that companies are allowed to work on new models for stepping up Internet access.

"There is this big struggle, debate in India now on how you balance these two things and this is an incredibly important debate because India is the country in the world with the most unconnected people," he said.

Zuckerberg further said that connecting every individual to the Internet is a large national and global priority as it will help create jobs and eradicate poverty.

While explaining his idea he said, "I think we need to make sure the regulatory framework that enables both of those things – Net neutrality protection that folks need and the ability to work on new models for (Internet) access."

Facebook, as part of its Internet.org initiative, has already partnered with Indian telecom major Reliance Communications to offer free access to over 30 websites. The site, which has recently been branded as Free Basics, is now available in 20 countries.

Facebook Vice-President of Communications and Public Policy, Elliot Schrage said the company has made the changes in response to the discussion that has happened in India and throughout the world.

"We changed the name of the service to make sure there was no confusion that this is a set of free basic services and not the whole Internet," he said.
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