Facebook’s Free Basics was shut down in Egypt on Wednesday. The service, which aims to provide the developing world with free access to certain sites on the Internet through mobile devices, had been operational for two months, though the reason for the closure was unclear.
“We’re disappointed that Free Basics will no longer be available in Egypt,” Facebook told the Associated Press, adding that at least a million people had gained access to Internet for the first time with this service, formerly known as Internet.org.
Free Basics has been embroiled in controversy in India as well, with activists maintaining that all Internet websites should be equally accessible and that the program violates net neutrality. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to writing for The Times of India this week to defend the service. “Instead of welcoming Free Basics as an open platform that will partner with any telco, and allow any developer to offer services to people for free, they claim–falsely–that this will give people less choice,” he wrote.
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