They say if you tell a lie sufficient times, it gets the ring of truth. In the age of Facebook, you don’t even have to say it all that many times. Make something anti-corporate, anti-government and on-so-people-friendly and you would go viral. Except viral fever of course, because though the corporates make meds against it and the government uses them to combat it and the virus is so people friendly, we still don’t like viral fever. But never mind.
The issue at stake here is net neutrality. As I’d said earlier, this means that service providers and regulators should not distinguish between two packets of internet data based on where they come from or where they’re going. So a packet containing a request for porn from some shady site should have the same respect and indifference attached to it as a search for a job to timesjobs. Yeah, that’s what it means dear barking dogs!
Propped up against this, supposedly, is Facebook’s Free Basics. This program, provided through Reliance, aims to give the poor and unconnected the ability to access internet services that would make the most difference in their lives. Such services have been parcelled out using apps, and a bouquet of apps are provided whose data usage will not be charged. So they get the basic stuff for free. Hence free basics.
Now barking dogs have great power, especially when they keep their asses firmly attached to their seats and hammer away at keyboards. Like I’m doing. Problem is I’m one and my anti-people headline won’t attract those do-gooders. But I’ll still have my say.
You see yappers, you’ve basically gotten your knickers in a bunch over the word “Basics”. Yep, you think basics should be providing such things as videos, multimedia content, HTML5 games and so on. Yeah, because the poor of the country so totally need to play and fap off right? Yeah they do, but why should Facebook pay for that?
The poor, rather, need information regarding agriculture, jobs, weather and education. They need to know prices so they’re not duped. They need to know where jobs are available. They need to know where to obtain this and obtain that. This and that, of course, are beyond your – and my – comprehension because we speak in English and our needs are so very different. I admit it, so should you pretty puppy.
Now let’s talk of the things they’re not getting – videos for one. Who needs videos ? For every educational video seen, 10 porn videos are viewed. Oh and Bollywood videos too, I’ll include them in the porn category (non-essential you see). Furthermore, videos are typically large and even with the best compression, it would take ages for the streaming to succeed considering the state of the infrastructure in those areas. Since many of the educational videos deal with technical issues, it is pointless to watch even compressed videos with low pixel dimensions anyway.
Secondly, there is this criticism that Facebook isn’t showing ads. That’s a good thing right ? Hell no! They’re not showing ads so they’ll show ads in the future. The mongoose didn’t attack the baby ? It will in the future, so kill it! Facebook aims Free Basics at sections of the populace that have limited purchasing power. Most ads target the middle classes. Tailoring ads to the underprivileged will be a challenge in itself. Chances are that such a challenge and the costs attached will have diminishing ROI because the poor simply won’t buy!
Thirdly, it has been argued that there are very few Indian sites and services on the bandwagon. Facebook is inviting one and all to join the platform and more are joining everyday. By the time this controversy gets over, some more may have already joined. So while it makes sense to say that the service is not very India-oriented at the moment, that’s not to say that it won’t be in the future. C’mon doggies, you said there will be ads in the future. You should be saying that there will be more Indian services in the future. It’s your own logic!
Fourthly, there is that pernicious argument that Facebook is spending money on marketing that it could logically have spent on making internet free for everyone. What hypocrisy! You raised hue and cry and got TRAI to shut it down. For this reason, Facebook has to spend money on marketing to get the message out. You yourself brought this about, and then you blame Facebook.
Finally, it is argued – ad nauseam – that Free Basics should be Free Internet. This means Free Internet for all. To these freeloaders, I have only one thing to say –
ফেসবুকে কি তোমার সোসুর বসে আছে ?
In case you can’t read Bengali, it basically means means – is your father-in-law operating Facebook ? In other words, what right do you have to demand that everything be free ? Has any move been made to make all internet free for everyone ? Either by the government or by a corporate body ? No, because the costs involved would be too high.
Instead, Facebook aims at creating a platform that everyone can access but only those who are truly underprivileged would stick to. Others would move to full internet services and for that matter, paid internet services. This would allow more people to gradually move to complete internet usage as their economic situation improves.
Now you ask – is Facebook doing all this for charity ? Nope, nope and again nope. Facebook hopes to draw in people from regions and sections that are facing the technological divide created by poverty and poor infrastructure. By making one aspect of the internet experience free, it hopes that they would become users of its services and someday, become users of its games and ads and so generate revenue for it. So yes, it is turning poor into future consumers. That’s the logic of capitalism my friend.
Again, Reliance is seeking to expand in areas where internet reach is weak. It hopes that people would soon grow tired of Free Basics and move to paid Reliance internet and other services. At the very least, they would not ditch Reliance because they know that even if they don’t need internet at all times, it is still available. This would give Reliance an edge over other telcos.
Why is all this customer-making good ? Because it creates internet educated people where there were none. In doing so, it creates members of a vast community that can access information – if not today, tomorrow – that is useful. Imagine a world where flood warning and rise and fall in prices are communicated directly to the farmer without any intermediary, courtesy the internet. Imagine a world where the farmer can rally people in his support against economic or social repression. We howl about farmer suicides and oppression of Dalits. Bringing them on the internet platform gives them a voice. A small voice in the beginning, but a voice nonetheless.
Finally, because other companies would be lagging behind, they too would launch their own schemes. These schemes would create competition and allow for wider and still wider range of services to be accessed. Imagine a poor person having two SIMs – accessing Bing for free on one SIM and Google on the other. What’s the harm in this scenario ?
For all this, Facebook and Reliance’s initiative is to be welcomed simply because it proves that capitalism, when allowed to run its course, automatically opens up new markets and creates new customers. These customers, by the very logic of economics, become members of a broader community of people who interact, learn and educate others. This is the power of capitalism and this is the power of Free Basics!