[bestbits] Internet.org risks the Web’s future in Pakistan

[Louis Pouzin (well)]

Hi Arzak Khan,

You hit the bull's eye. The name of the game is colonization.

Louis
www.open-root.eu
www.eurolinc.eu
- - -

On Tue, Jun 23, 2015 at 4:28 PM, Arzak Khan <director at ipop.org.pk> wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> Please find attached my opinion on internet.org in Pakistan published on
> Al Jazeera America.
>
> Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
>
>
> http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/6/internetorg-risks-the-webs-future-in-pakistan.html
>
>
> Internet.org risks the Web’s future in Pakistan
> Zuckerberg-Telenor effort to bring Internet to the developing world is
> counterproductive
> June 22, 2015 2:00AM ET
> by Arzak Khan <http://america.aljazeera.com/profiles/k/arzak-khan.html>
> @internetpolicyp <http://www.twitter.com/internetpolicyp>
> Internet.org, the partnership between Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and
> Norweigian telecom operator Telenor, seeks to make internet access
> available to the two-thirds of the world’s population who are not yet
> connected, and to bring the same opportunities to everyone that the
> connected world has today. The project was first launched in July 2014 in
> Zambia followed by Tanzania, Kenya, Colombia, Ghana, India, Philippines,
> Guatemala, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malawi.
> Now the project is coming to my native Pakistan. Through the internet.org
> app, Telenor’s 37 million customers in Pakistan have free Internet access
> to 17 websites that includes the popular social media website Facebook
> along with BBC, Wikipedia and other news, health, education, finance and
> information services. Internet.org’s aims are based on a real problem faced
> by millions of people without Internet access in Pakistan due to low
> incomes and affordability, user capability and, most importantly, poor
> telecommunications infrastructure.
> Despite the effort’s apparent noble intentions, this initiative has more
> drawbacks than benefits. First, both internet.org and Telenor are
> misleadingly marketing to the people this initiative as “the Internet”
> whereas the free net access provided through this initiative is not the
> real Internet but basically a bundle of limited websites approved by
> Facebook with significant privacy and security flaws. Second, this
> initiative does not help in resolving the connectivity issues of developing
> countries such as Pakistan and doubles the gravity of the issue by offering
> a platform for restricted Internet access where people with scarcer
> economic resources have very limited opportunity for joining the global
> Internet economy. Thus the effort does little to narrow the digital divide.
> Pakistanis deserve the right to savor the real Internet — not the one
> delivered by Internet.org.
> The Internet’s success is due to its openness, equality of opportunity and
> innovation. Platforms such as Facebook itself would not have been created
> if Zuckerberg accessed the Internet only via this initiative. Furthermore,
> the Internet is already believed to be an important medium to help
> countries such as mine develop successful economies. But Pakistan is
> hampered by poor broadband infrastructure, low speeds and unavailability
> of access. Pakistanis who may connect for the first time using
> internet.org are at risk of missing out on the real Internet that gives
> them an unlimited opportunities for socio-economic development, thereby
> leading to a potential lack of interest in the real Internet.
> Despite limited access, the Internet has already become a very powerful
> medium of change in Pakistan in a very short span of time. Approximately 30
> million of Pakistan’s 191 million population have Internet, half of them
> through their mobile phone, according to a report
> <http://tribune.com.pk/story/567649/30m-internet-users-in-pakistan-half-on-mobile-report/>
> by mobile survey company Ansr.io. The Internet has empowered them with
> genuine freedom of speech without censorship. Paradoxically, Internet.org
> is set to put freedom of expression at risk. Its consequences can be
> detrimental in repressive regimes such as Pakistan where governments are
> pursuing an active agenda for censoring the Internet in the name of
> national security and social and religious values. Facebook through this
> initiative is strangely putting itself in a position whereby governments
> could pressure to block certain types of content or users who access it.
> This can be especially harmful for politically active users in restrictive
> environments. Moreover, the security and privacy of individual users will
> also be at a constant risk of malicious attacks and spying by the
> government.
> The goal of providing universal, affordable Internet access to every
> person on Earth is too large and too important for any one company, group
> or government to solve alone. It requires a cohesive multi-stakeholders
> approach that demonstrates a commitment to the public interest, fairness
> and transparency. As for this particular effort, Facebook through
> internet.org appears to be focused instead on expanding its user base and
> advertising empire in the developing world, all in the name of providing
> free access to ‘the Internet.’ This nefarious development agenda is no
> different from the ones pursued in the periods of colonialism, imperialism
> and then capitalism where resourceful governments and corporations
> exploited the poor countries with the fake promises of development.
> Pakistanis, along with peoples from other developing countries, deserve
> the right to savor the real Internet — not the one delivered by
> Internet.org. The Zuckerberg-Telenor effort not only jeopardizes the
> growth, freedom and expansion of the Web in Pakistan but also risks
> creating a two-tiered Internet with millions in the developing world
> quarantined the wrong side of digital divide.
>
> *Arzak Khan is Founder and Director of Internet Policy Observatory
> Pakistan, where he promotes policies for development of open and
> transparent Internet in Pakistan. He also researches the marketing of human
> rights in the global south, the role played by new information and
> communication technologies and growing censorship of the Internet.*
>
> * The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not
> necessarily reflect Al Jazeera America's editorial policy. *
>
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