Mark Zuckerberg’s Internet.org project bribes corrupt, non-neutral
carriers in poor countries to exempt Facebook and other services of its
choosing from their data-caps, giving the world’s poorest an Internet
that’s been radically pruned to a sliver of what the rest of the world
gets for free.
Internet.org characterizes its goals as charitable and
development-oriented. In their framework, poor people either face severe
data-caps that limit their access to the Internet to almost nothing, or
they get unlimited access to some of the Internet, thanks to Internet.org’s largesse.
That framework ignores the alternative: using the organization’s might
and millions to fight corruption in the telco sector, demanding network
neutrality for everyone, not just people in rich countries.
The idea of “zero-rated” services from non-neutral carriers isn’t a new
one. In countries like India, it’s long been normal for carriers to
accept bribes to exempt certain services from data-caps. This phenomenon
has been widely studied, and the conclusion is stark: zero-rated services do not contribute to poverty-eradication or other development goals.
