Apologies aside, is Facebook secretly condoning colonialism in India?
After a firestorm of backlash on Twitter early this week, Facebook board director Marc Andreessen has apologized for his comments that invoked colonialism and condemned the Indian government鈥檚 decision to ban the site鈥檚 free Internet service.
On Monday, India rejected Facebook鈥檚 Free Basics Program, which offers free Internet service to to poor and rural areas, citing principles of net neutrality. The 鈥減ared-back version鈥� of free Internet would have limited access to companies outside of the service contract.
But other critics say Facebook鈥檚 faults stretch beyond net neutrality, and point to the company鈥檚 possible intentions of monopolizing India鈥檚 growing online market.
In reaction to the dismaying news, Mr. Andreessen, a venture capitalist, tweeted: "Denying world's poorest free partial Internet connectivity when today they have none, for ideological reasons, strikes me as morally wrong.鈥�
"Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades,鈥� he went on. 鈥淲hy stop now?"
After receiving harsh criticism online, Andreessen deleted his comments and tweeted out an apology.
"I apologize for any offense my comment caused, and withdraw it in full and without reservation," he wrote. "I will leave all future commentary on all of these topics to people with more knowledge and experience than me."
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also to Andreessen鈥檚 comments in a Facebook post Wednesday.
鈥淚 found the comments deeply upsetting, and they do not represent the way Facebook or I think at all. India has been personally important to me and Facebook,鈥� he wrote.
鈥淔acebook stands for helping to connect people and giving them voice to shape their own future. But to shape the future we need to understand the past. As our community in India has grown, I've gained a deeper appreciation for the need to understand India's history and culture.鈥�
But the damage has already been done. And the connection between Facebook and colonialism, critics say, is nothing new.
In an email to The Atlantic, Deepika Bahri of Emory University sums up the eerie similarities between Facebook鈥檚 global expansion and :
1. ride in like the savior
2. bandy about words like equality, democracy, basic rights
3. mask the long-term profit motive (see 2 above)
4. justify the logic of partial dissemination as better than nothing
5. partner with local elites and vested interests
6. accuse the critics of ingratitude
鈥淭he explosion of mobile phone usage in India even among folks who could be regarded as 鈥榩oor鈥� aptly demonstrates that , poor people are more than capable of demonstrating agency and adopting technology on their own鈥�,鈥� writes Sumanth Raghavendra, a startup founder in India, in a Medium essay casting doubt on Facebook鈥檚 moral intent.
鈥淭here is absolutely no need to offer a condescending promise based on altruism to bring these folks online. They will do so on their own time and at their own pace with or without any external help or artificial incentive.鈥�
This report includes material from Reuters.
