Facebook’s Free Internet for the Poor, Leaves Out High-Bandwidth Websites

Facebook's Internet.org, which Aims to Give Impoverished People Around the World Free Mobile Access to a Selection of Internet Services, is Opening the Platform to Developers after Facing Criticism that, the Program's Restrictions Violate Net Neutrality Principles. The Partnership with Mobile Operators Gives Free Access to Few Dozen Websites (including Facebook) through a Mobile App Available in Parts of Africa, Latin America and Asia. Although the Application is Ad-Free and Companies Don't Pay to be Part of it, Several Companies in India Pulled Out of Internet.org because, it Steers Users toward a Limited Set of Services. In Response, Facebook Announced the Internet.org Platform, "an open program for developers to easily create services that integrate with Internet.org". Any Developer will be Able to Build Services that Can be Accessed through Internet.org but, there are Limits on What they Can Offer. Although Facebook's Announcement Said, the Goal is to Let Users "explore the entire Internet", that Won't include High-Bandwidth Services. "Websites that require high-bandwidth will not be included", Facebook Wrote. "Services should not use VoIP, video, file transfer, high resolution photos, or high volume of photos."

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The Version of Facebook Available on the Internet.org App has the Same Limitation, as it Removes Photos and Videos. Facebook Co-Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, Explained the Company's Reasoning in an Accompanying Video. It Isn't Financially Sustainable to Offer Free Access to Everything on the Internet, he Said. "This program supports itself", he Said. "When people use free basic services, more of them then decide to pay to access the broader Internet and this enables operators to keep offering the basic services for free. It's not sustainable to offer the whole Internet for free, though. It costs tens of billions of dollars a year to run the Internet, and no operator could afford this if everything were free. But, it is sustainable to build free basic services that are simpler, use less data, and work on all low-end phones." Internet.org Connects People without any Internet Access to Essential Services such as Education and Health Information, Zuckerberg Said. Strict Adherence to Network Neutrality Principles "should not prevent access", Zuckerberg Said. "We need both. It's not an equal Internet if the majority of people can't participate... Giving four billion people some free Internet access is the right thing to do." Developers Who Build Services for the Internet.org Platform, Must Optimize them for Browsing on Both Smartphones and Basic Phones, as well as, for "limited bandwidth scenarios". "In addition, websites must be properly integrated with Internet.org to allow zero rating and therefore can’t require JavaScript or SSL/TLS/HTTPS", Facebook Said.


The Internet.org Guidelines List Additional Forbidden Elements including SVG Images and WOFF Font Types, Iframes, Video and Large Images and Flash and Java Applets. "If websites are found to contain any of the above post-implementation, we will block them until we can confirm that the content has been removed", Facebook Said. The Guidelines also Further Explain the Encryption Limitations. Internet.org Traffic is Routed through a Proxy "to create a standard traffic flow so that operators can properly identify and zero rate your service". "Your service will be proxied by Internet.org", Facebook Says. "Since we cannot support SSL, TLS, or HTTPS as part of proxying, your content or service should not rely on passing or collecting encrypted information — resources that do so will not be accessible within Internet.org or will be dropped altogether. While we would prefer to support fully encrypted connections between user and website in all cases, proxying for third-party sites does not allow for this in its current implementation without introducing man-in-the-middle capabilities." Just as any Mobile Operator Can Partner with Facebook on Internet.org, any Developer Can Offer Services on Top of it — as Long as they Follow the Rules. "We’re building an open platform and anyone who meets these guidelines will be able to participate", Facebook Said.