Abstract

The Internet has now become an obligatory instrument for the users around the world and a fundamental facilitator of innovation and economic, cultural, political and social growth. India has a large number of Internet users who can access the Internet without being restricted to access certain sites. This is because of Net Neutrality, a concept according to which all the data should be treated equal or in other words all the contents should be accessible to the user freely, without giving preference in speed or pricing to any particular set of content. In February 2015, Facebook owner Mark Zukerberg came to India with an offer named internet.org, which was later rechristened to Free Basics. According to this concept Internet will be free in India and the poor will be benefitted due to it. But, only the sites that will partner with facebook can be accessed and facebook will act as the gatekeeper, snooping into customer’s personal data. It means people will only be able to see what facebook wants us to and even can refrain us from something on the internet if it goes against them. This is a complete violation of the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression which the Indian Constitution has given to its citizens. Free Basics was basically a kind of electronic fascism and a diktat on people’s individual right. The activists of net neutrality, joined by the general masses and many start-ups, smelled capitalism in this whole concept and came out to protest. The battle was won, net neutrality won, they made Free Basics Quit India. This paper attempts to understand the basic concept of Net Neutrality and Free Basics. It further tries to explain  how the concept of capitalism was embedded in Facebook’s veiled idea of free basics and will also try to look into how the supporters of Net Neutrality created a modern day Quit India Movement.

Key Words: Net Neutrality; facebook; Free Basics; Capitalism;