Right to Internet access is non-negotiable, says Prasad

The citizens’ right of accessing the Internet is “non-negotiable” and the Centre will not allow any company to restrict people’s entry to the worldwide web, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday.

Speaking at the Global Conference on Cyberspace Security, Prasad said the government did not allow social networking giant Facebook’s Free Basics programme because it offered access to select Internet services. “When I was handling communications department...my friend Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO) met me a number of times with the idea of Free Basics.”

Facebook had introduced its Free Basics programme in India in 2015 to offer free basic Internet access to people in partnership with telecom operators.

Prasad said the idea behind Free Basics was that everything will be free, namely eduction, health, entertainment and others, if one enters the Net through one gate (Facebook’s).

“I said India is a democracy, we don’t believe in one gate. We believe in multiple gates. Therefore, this gate locking for India will not be accepted and I did not allow it. This stems (from) our commitment that Internet must be accessible to all.”

Supporters of Net neutrality saw Free Basics as a violation of the principle that the entire Internet traffic should be available to everyone on equal terms without any discrimination based on business considerations of service providers.

In February 2016, Facebook shut down the controversial programme after telecom regulator barred operators from charging different rates for Internet access based on the content.

The minister’s statement has come at a time when there is a raging debate over Net neutrality globally. US0 regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, recently that it plans to roll back the ”Net neutrality” rules adopted in 2015.