Facebook profile picture to a tricolor shade to show support to the Digital India campaign by the Modi government, we Indians have been following suit. Our timelines are flooded with tricolor profile pictures created fromfb.com/supportdigitalindia. Now, like everybody, you may think this is a gesture to support digital India. But it is not.
© Facebook
Changing Your Profile Picture Means You Are Inadvertently Supporting Internet.org
Data from every profile picture that is changed can be used by Facebook anytime to show support for internet.org, as claimed by someinternet techies. Of course, TRAI will not accept any data that is presented by Facebook to support Internet.Org, because TRAI does not consider Facebook as a reliable data source, but it will help make Facebook's case stronger, if they choose to include this. Even if the source code is not used anywhere, and it's just what it is - a CSS code - Facebook, by associating itself with the Digital India campaign, will do much to enter into the country's collective consciousness. Generating popular support is a good way to influence governments and institutions.
Truth is that this is a subtle tactic to promote Facebook’s initiative called internet.org. Facebook, in collaboration with 6 companies, namely, Samsung, Ericsson, Media Tek, Opera Software Nokia and Qualcomm, launched internet.org that plans to provide free internet services to developing countries.
© Facebook
Now it may sound like a great philanthropic idea, one that would help digitalize even remote villages, it actually is a blow to internet freedom and net neutrality. Facebook is piggyback riding the digital India movement (which could prove to be a great campaign to digitalise rural India) to position itself as a benefactor that will provide free internet in India. Fact is that internet.org, if implemented, will do everything except benefit a developing country like India. Here’s why:
The free internet service will be available only to Reliance users, since the partnership is with Reliance. And the “free access” that is being much talked about will only be to Facebook and its 50 partner sites, which is nothing but manipulating internet users with a carrot-stick tactic. Everyone loves free internet, which is why users will limit their internet usage to sites that are free. Now this is giving unprecedented monoply to Facebook and its 50 partner sites to manipulate what we see on the internet.
© YouTube
Death Of Startups
And this will mean the death of startups, a culture that is booming in India. No small company or website can possibly compete with a biggie like Facebook that is providing free internet. The mushrooming of a zillion new businesses, especially indigenous, will simply be impossible. Imagine what would have happened if the British had priced English goods at dirt-cheap rates; yes, death of indigenous business. Classic case of big fish eliminating small fish.
Some time back, when the country had risen in support of net neutrality signing petitions to save it, big players like The Times of India and NDTV had pulled out of internet.org citing the violation of net neutrality.
So, if you think that by changing your profile picture you are supporting the cause of a digitalized India, don’t. You are unconsciously helping Facebook kill net neutrality in the long run. This Facebook post sums it all too well.
P.S. - For everybody crying foul, this is not an attack on the digital India campaign. Internet.org and digital India are two different things, and it'd be in the country's favour if they remain so.
Update:
Facebook Mailed Us Their Official Statement On The Issue:
"There is absolutely no connection between updating your profile picture for digital India and Internet.org. An engineer mistakenly used the words "Internet.org profile picture" as a shorthand name he chose for part of the code. But this product in no way connects to or registers support for Internet.org. We are changing the code today to eliminate any confusion." - Facebook Spokesperson
No comments:
Post a Comment