A majority of respondents in an online survey say they are opposed to Facebook’s Free Basics initiative and support net neutrality.
The survey by community network LocalCircles of 30,000 people shows 81 per cent of the 14,000 who responded to the question on Free Basics voted against it.
About 78 per cent of the 15,000 respondents do not want private players to act as a gateway to the Internet.
They want the government to provide free access to the Internet for essential services such as news, emergency alerts and education, either in partnership with telecom providers or independently.
“In addition, the concern that has been repeatedly raised is that providing free open access across the board would lead to misuse of the facility and lead to high usage of services like photos, videos, entertainment (common use cases in social networks) etc. and such usage will not only impact the use of essential services but also have negative social consequences to a population that would be new to the Internet,” according to a statement posted on the network’s website.
