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Facebook's Free Walled-Garden Internet Program Ended Quietly in Myanmar, Several Other Places Last Year (techcrunch.com)

Posted by msmash on from the another-setback dept.

An anonymous reader shares a TechCrunch report: As recently as last week, Facebook was touting the growth of Free Basics, its Internet.org project designed to give users free curated web access in developing countries, but the app isn't working out everywhere. As the Outline originally reported and TechCrunch confirmed, the Free Basics program has ended in Myanmar, perhaps Facebook's most controversial non-Western market at the moment.

Myanmar is not the only place where Free Basics has quietly ended. The program has been abruptly called off in more than half a dozen nations and territories in the recent months, according to an analysis by The Outline. People in Bolivia, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Congo, Anguilla, El Salvador, and Saint Lucia have also lost access to Facebook's free internet program. Additionally, Facebook was testing Free Basics service in Zimbabwe in mid-2016 in partnership with local telecom operator Telecel. The test program has yet to materialize into a wider roll-out.

3 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. They didn't give us any value by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    It was only free if we could exploit them. But they are all poor and have no value to advertisers, so we ended it.

    1. Re:They didn't give us any value by will_die · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Except that was not why it did not work out. Under this you would be provided free internet access to a weather site , wikipedia, email, some learning sites, facebook, and around 10 others with no advertisement on the pages then what you normally get.
      It was killed for india back in 2016 when people complained was against net neutrality.
      It was not that the people did not provide money to advertisers that killed it it was the narrow minded net neutrality pushers.

  2. So... how well did it do? by HeckRuler · · Score: 2

    Facebook can shut these things down for a number of reasons.

    But what was the impact? Did the people use it? Did they like it? What did they use it for? Has anyone simply asked these people their thoughts and views of the program?

    I know actually talking to the poor people of Myanmar isn't the most popular thing. But it'd be insightful and... hey, it'd be easy... if they had Internet access....

    I'd also like to know how much it cost, how much Facebook got paid in advertising, and what all they gained from it. Apparently not enough, but come on, if this is a social experiement, turn it into social SCIENCE by publishing the results.