essay

Annette Williams

1/25/2017

Case #1: Facebook’s Internet.org Initiative: Serving the Bottom of the Pyramid?

Summary

“The goal of Internet.org is to make Internet access available to the two thirds of the world who are not yet connected, and to bring the same opportunities to everyone that the connected third of the world has today.” (e-text PC1-1) And Internet.org wants to make the internet available to everyone on earth. The goal is to have users access low-data versions of Facebook that includes the Messenger service also. The down side is that users can only access certain websites for free and if they want to go outside those websites users will be charged a fee. By starting up this initiative in third world countries, Internet.org and its business associates believe that if everyone is connected they would be able to have information that would lead to a healthier lifestyle, creating nearly 140 million jobs and uplifting 160 million people out of poverty.

Countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Africa are now experiencing the improved network and app performance from Internet.org. These services were free of cost and would have access to basic internet information like the News and Accu-Weather reports. While Internet.org does not appear to violate net neutrality laws in the countries stated in the beginning of this paragraph, analysts’ states that the company wants to be seen as encouraging the open and free use of the Internet, not just providing a small slice of the world wide web.

CEO, Mar Zuckerberg said, “that the goal of the Internet.org initiative was to offer credit and identity infrastructure in developing countries that is still nascent in many developing countries. “(e-text PC1-1)

Critics of Internet.org also questioned Zuckerberg’s lofty vision of “connectivity is a human right” because it provided free access for some basic contents while holding the robust content for a price. (e-text PC1-1) “It was demonstrated by the World Bank that in the name of development many technological companies made money through people who were at the bottom of the pyramid and, invariably, they became the losers.” (e-text PC1-1)

“So far, Internet.org has done nothing for Facebook’s bottom line. However, that could change in the future-the very distant future. Zuckerberg has said that the initiative wasn’t conceived as a money-maker for Facebook, but that it could have some benefits down the road.” (Brodbeck, 2015)

Work Citied:

e-text

Brodbeck, Laura. Benzinga. “Is Internet.org A Money Maker For Facebook” Newswires; Southfield[Southfield] 16 Oct 2015