Facebook defended its Internet.org initiative as a “gateway” to provide low cost access to the Internet after a government panel on net neutrality opposed it saying that the social networking giant was playing the role of a gatekeeper.
“Internet.org acts as a gateway, as opposed to a gatekeeper, to Internet access by breaking down the cost, infrastructure and social barriers that exist today,” Facebook Vice-President for Mobile and Global Access Policy Kevin Martin said in a statement.
The government panel discussed Facebook’s Internet.org while preparing the report and found that it provided free access for only a few websites until April 2015.
“Facebook’s role as gatekeeper in determining what websites were in that list was seen as violating Net Neutrality,” the panel said, adding that “collaborations between telecom operators and content providers that enable such gate-keeping role to be played by any entity should be actively discouraged”.
