Of late, FB has come out strongly stating Freebasics is for the public good rather than a product for market dominance and profitability. The only problem with that is it presume the rest of humanity as not being very clever. And that has brought them a lot of problems. Philanthrocapitalism Isn’t a Great Marketing Term Internet.org was born of growth initiatives, and it never lost that DNA. From its launch through today, the program has never been entirely about business or about altruism, but rather a convenient if sometimes uncomfortable marriage of the two. Zuckerberg captured the awkwardness beautifully in a quote published in the New York Times the day of its Aug. 20 launch: “We’re focused on it more because we think it’s something good for the world,” he said, “rather than something that is going to be really amazing for our profits.” Facebook employees consistently employ this tone, pushing the altruistic aspects of Internet.org while tacitly acknowledging the business benefits, when asked about the program’s business goals. “My mission is to connect people,” Munish Seth, who heads Facebook’s connectivity efforts in India, told the New York Times in a story about Express Wi-Fi. “We hope they will connect to Facebook, but that’s not the primary mission,” he said. Playing up altruism while playing down profit motives soon became a point of discontent among some people in the regions where Internet.org operates. Facebook, they argue, is trying to win support for a business effort by passing it off as something charitable. “That’s how Facebook is positioning it every single day in its advertising campaigns across India — that it’s a philanthropic venture — whereas it’s not a nonprofit,” Nikhil Pahwa, co-founder of Savetheinternet.in, a group opposed to Internet.org, told BuzzFeed News in an interview. “It’s a business venture, through and through.” At times, the efforts have bordered on brazen. Carolina Botero, CEO of the Karisma Foundation, a Colombian digital rights organization, said Internet.org has been positioned within Colombia as a public policy initiative, getting endorsed as such by the country’s top government officials. “You cannot present a marketing strategy as an important public policy in a country,” she said. “If it’s going to be a market strategy, then do it as a market strategy and we can deal with that. But when you mix it with the public policies, it’s a whole world that opens that is not good.” A Facebook spokesperson said that while Colombian government services were included in the country’s version of Free Basics, and Mark Zuckerberg did indeed appear with Colombia’s president, Facebook itself never pitched Internet.org as a public policy solution. Asked if Facebook’s positioning of the program may have caused it problems, Facebook’s Daniels rejected the notion. “I think it’s good for Facebook and good for the world. And whether we should have led with one or the other — or whether your perception is that we led with one or the other — is neither here nor there,” he argued. “The result of bringing more people online is good for the world,” Daniels continued. “More ideas are shared. It’s good for the entire internet ecosystem. Once people come online they discover and seek more services that they can use online. And it is also good for Facebook, there’s no question about that. When more people come online, those are more potential Facebook users. I don’t think we’ve shied away from the fact that this is going to be good for Facebook, but I also don’t think that we should be shying away from the fact that it’s going to be good for the world as well, to bring more people online.” On 26/01/2016, Mwendwa Kivuva <Kivuva@transworldafrica.com> wrote:
Thanks Nanjira.
At least now we have a techsavy CS, probably we will see some positive change in this debate that has dragged for years in this list.
Regards
On 26/01/2016, Nanjira Sambuli via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
For those still keen on this issue. Goes back to acquisitions of Snaptu and Onavo. Very interesting.
Memorable quote:
""You cannot present a marketing strategy as an important public policy in a country. If it's going to be a market strategy, then do it as a market strategy and we can deal with that. But when you mix it with the public policies, it's a whole world that opens that is not good."
What shall it be, for Kenya? Btw, technology neutrality is listed as a principle in the National Broadband Strategy...
http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/how-facebooks-plan-to-give-the-world-...
Regards, Nanjira.
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-- ______________________ Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya twitter.com/lordmwesh The best athletes never started as the best athletes. "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take." - Wayne Gretzky. I will persist until I succeed - Og Mandino.