Credit: Indeed, there is already precedence for this. Back in 2010, (Google!) essentially stepped out of the search business in China because the Chinese government put far too much pressure on the search giant to censor what users had access to.
Indeed, there is already precedence for this. Back in 2010, (Google!) essentially stepped out of the search business in China because the Chinese government put far too much pressure on the search giant to censor what users had access to.
Source: Internet.org.
Indeed, there is already precedence for this. Back in 2010, Google (Google!) essentially stepped out of the search business in China because the Chinese government put far too much pressure on the search giant to censor what users had access to.
Google's senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer, David Drummond, said at the time, "The Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a nonnegotiable legal requirement."
It would be a bit naive to think that the same censorship pressures couldn't be applied to Internet.org, especially when the service is essentially deciding which content users have access to already.
But let's be fair about this point, because this hasn't happened yet on Internet.org, nor is Facebook likely willing to be the content puppet of repressive governments. Keep in mind that Internet.org already offers access to sites with massive amounts of information some governments might not agree with, like Wikipedia.org.
So while it's certainly possible for Facebook to feel pressure from some governments in the future, it simply doesn't appear to be the case right now.
The bottom line
It's easy to criticize out-of-the-box ideas like Internet.org, and Facebook is certainly receiving its fair share of bad press. I think it's good to have a healthy dash of skepticism for projects like this -- but balance it with the optimism it deserves.
At its core, Facebook is trying to help people get out of poverty using the skills that Facebook knows the most about -- the Internet. Whether this works or not is an entirely different story. Sure there are problems that need to be addressed, and for the most part Facebook appears to be addressing them. But faulting the company for taking steps that could help people live better lives isn't beneficial for anyone.
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The article Why Don't Some People Like Facebook's Internet.org? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Chris Neiger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Facebook, Google (A shares), and Google (C shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Facebook, Google (A shares), and Google (C shares). Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days . We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
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