Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
$message = 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
$stackFrame = (int) 1
$trace = [
	(int) 0 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ServerRequest.php',
		'line' => (int) 2421,
		'function' => 'deprecationWarning',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead.'
		]
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
		'line' => (int) 150,
		'function' => 'offsetGet',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'catslug'
		]
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Controller/Controller.php',
		'line' => (int) 610,
		'function' => 'index',
		'class' => 'App\Controller\ArtileDetailController',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 120,
		'function' => 'invokeAction',
		'class' => 'Cake\Controller\Controller',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 94,
		'function' => '_invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/BaseApplication.php',
		'line' => (int) 235,
		'function' => 'dispatch',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\BaseApplication',
		'object' => object(App\Application) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 162,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 97,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 96,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 51,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Server.php',
		'line' => (int) 98,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\MiddlewareQueue) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/webroot/index.php',
		'line' => (int) 39,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Server',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Server) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	]
]
$frame = [
	'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
	'line' => (int) 150,
	'function' => 'offsetGet',
	'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
	'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {
		trustProxy => false
		[protected] params => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] data => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] query => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] cookies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _environment => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] url => 'latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html'
		[protected] base => ''
		[protected] webroot => '/'
		[protected] here => '/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html'
		[protected] trustedProxies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _input => null
		[protected] _detectors => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _detectorCache => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] stream => object(Zend\Diactoros\PhpInputStream) {}
		[protected] uri => object(Zend\Diactoros\Uri) {}
		[protected] session => object(Cake\Http\Session) {}
		[protected] attributes => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] emulatedAttributes => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] uploadedFiles => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] protocol => null
		[protected] requestTarget => null
		[private] deprecatedProperties => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	},
	'type' => '->',
	'args' => [
		(int) 0 => 'catslug'
	]
]
deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::index() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 150
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 97
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
$message = 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
$stackFrame = (int) 1
$trace = [
	(int) 0 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ServerRequest.php',
		'line' => (int) 2421,
		'function' => 'deprecationWarning',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead.'
		]
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
		'line' => (int) 151,
		'function' => 'offsetGet',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'artileslug'
		]
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Controller/Controller.php',
		'line' => (int) 610,
		'function' => 'index',
		'class' => 'App\Controller\ArtileDetailController',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 120,
		'function' => 'invokeAction',
		'class' => 'Cake\Controller\Controller',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 94,
		'function' => '_invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/BaseApplication.php',
		'line' => (int) 235,
		'function' => 'dispatch',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\BaseApplication',
		'object' => object(App\Application) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 162,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 97,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 96,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 51,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Server.php',
		'line' => (int) 98,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\MiddlewareQueue) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/webroot/index.php',
		'line' => (int) 39,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Server',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Server) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	]
]
$frame = [
	'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
	'line' => (int) 151,
	'function' => 'offsetGet',
	'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
	'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {
		trustProxy => false
		[protected] params => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] data => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] query => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] cookies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _environment => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] url => 'latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html'
		[protected] base => ''
		[protected] webroot => '/'
		[protected] here => '/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html'
		[protected] trustedProxies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _input => null
		[protected] _detectors => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _detectorCache => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] stream => object(Zend\Diactoros\PhpInputStream) {}
		[protected] uri => object(Zend\Diactoros\Uri) {}
		[protected] session => object(Cake\Http\Session) {}
		[protected] attributes => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] emulatedAttributes => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] uploadedFiles => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] protocol => null
		[protected] requestTarget => null
		[private] deprecatedProperties => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	},
	'type' => '->',
	'args' => [
		(int) 0 => 'artileslug'
	]
]
deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::index() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 151
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 97
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

            } else {
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html>
<!--[if lt IE 7 ]>
<html class="ie ie6" lang='en'> <![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 7 ]>
<html class="ie ie7" lang='en'> <![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 8 ]>
<html class="ie ie8" lang='en'> <![endif]-->
<!--[if (gte IE 9)|!(IE)]><!-->
<html lang='en'>
<!--<![endif]-->
<head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
    
    <title>
        LATEST NEWS UPDATES | What Free Basics did not intend to do -Parminder Jeet Singh    </title>
    <meta name="description" content="
-The Hindu

The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation.

In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the..."/>
    <meta name="keywords" content="Digital Freedom,Digital Media,Digital Divide,Access to Internet,Free Basics,Net Neutrality"/>
    <meta name="news_keywords" content="Digital Freedom,Digital Media,Digital Divide,Access to Internet,Free Basics,Net Neutrality">
   
    <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="ROR" href="/ror.xml"/>
    <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS 2.0" href="/feeds/"/>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/bootstrap.min.css?1697864993"/>    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css?v=1.1.2"/>    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style-inner.css?1577045210"/>    <link rel="stylesheet" id="Oswald-css"
          href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Oswald%3Aregular%2C700&amp;ver=3.8.1" type="text/css"
          media="all">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/jquery.modal.min.css?1578285302"/>    <script src="/js/jquery-1.10.2.js?1575549704"></script>    <script src="/js/jquery-migrate.min.js?1575549704"></script>    <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" title="Favicon">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/jquery-ui.css?1580720609"/>    <script src="/js/jquery-ui.js?1575549704"></script>    <link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/custom.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/jquery.modal.min.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/jquery-ui.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/li-scroller.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<!-- <link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/style.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous"> -->
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/style-inner.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">

<link rel='dns-prefetch' href="//im4change.org/css/custom.css" crossorigin >

<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/bootstrap.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery.li-scroller.1.0.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery.modal.min.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery.ui.totop.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery-1.10.2.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery-migrate.min.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery-ui.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/setting.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/tie-scripts.js">
    <!--[if IE]>
    <script type="text/javascript">jQuery(document).ready(function () {
        jQuery(".menu-item").has("ul").children("a").attr("aria-haspopup", "true");
    });</script>
    <![endif]-->
    <!--[if lt IE 9]>
    <script src="/js/html5.js"></script>
    <script src="/js/selectivizr-min.js"></script>
    <![endif]-->
    <!--[if IE 8]>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="/css/ie8.css"/>
    <![endif]-->
    <meta property="og:title" content="LATEST NEWS UPDATES | What Free Basics did not intend to do -Parminder Jeet Singh" />
     <meta property="og:url" content="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html" />
     <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
     <meta property="og:description" content="
-The Hindu

The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation.

In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the..." />
     <meta property="og:image" content="" />
      <meta property="fb:app_id" content="0" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no">

       <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="144x144" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple1.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="120x120" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple2.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="72x72" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple3.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple4.png">

    <style>
    .gsc-results-wrapper-overlay{
        top: 38% !important;
        height: 50% !important;
    }
    .gsc-search-button-v2{
        border-color: #035588 !important;
        background-color: #035588 !important;
    }

   .gsib_a{
        height: 30px !important;
          padding: 2px 8px 1px 6px !important;
    }

   
    .gsc-search-button-v2{
        height: 41px !important;
    }
    input.gsc-input{
        background: none !important;
    }
    @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {
        .gsc-results-wrapper-overlay{
            top: 11% !important;
            width: 87% !important;
            left: 9% !important;
            height: 43% !important;
        }

        .gsc-search-button-v2{
            padding: 10px 10px !important;
        
        }
        .gsc-input-box{
            height: 28px !important;
        }
       /* .gsib_a {
            padding: 0px 9px 4px 9px !important;
        }*/
    }
    @media only screen and (min-width: 1200px) and (max-width: 1920px) {
        table.gsc-search-box{
            width: 15% !important;
            float: right !important;
            margin-top: -118px !important;
        }

        .gsc-search-button-v2 {
            
            padding: 6px !important;
           
        }
    }


</style>

    <script>
        $(function () {
            $("#accordion").accordion({
                event: "click hoverintent"
            });
        });

        /*
         * hoverIntent | Copyright 2011 Brian Cherne
         * http://cherne.net/brian/resources/jquery.hoverIntent.html
         * modified by the jQuery UI team
         */
        $.event.special.hoverintent = {
            setup: function () {
                $(this).bind("mouseover", jQuery.event.special.hoverintent.handler);
            },
            teardown: function () {
                $(this).unbind("mouseover", jQuery.event.special.hoverintent.handler);
            },
            handler: function (event) {
                var currentX, currentY, timeout,
                    args = arguments,
                    target = $(event.target),
                    previousX = event.pageX,
                    previousY = event.pageY;

                function track(event) {
                    currentX = event.pageX;
                    currentY = event.pageY;
                }
                ;

                function clear() {
                    target
                        .unbind("mousemove", track)
                        .unbind("mouseout", clear);
                    clearTimeout(timeout);
                }

                function handler() {
                    var prop,
                        orig = event;
                    if ((Math.abs(previousX - currentX) +
                        Math.abs(previousY - currentY)) < 7) {
                        clear();
                        event = $.Event("hoverintent");
                        for (prop in orig) {
                            if (!(prop in event)) {
                                event[prop] = orig[prop];
                            }
                        }
                        // Prevent accessing the original event since the new event
                        // is fired asynchronously and the old event is no longer
                        // usable (#6028)
                        delete event.originalEvent;
                        target.trigger(event);
                    } else {
                        previousX = currentX;
                        previousY = currentY;
                        timeout = setTimeout(handler, 100);
                    }
                }

                timeout = setTimeout(handler, 100);
                target.bind({
                    mousemove: track,
                    mouseout: clear
                });
            }
        };
    </script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        var _gaq = _gaq || [];
        _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-472075-3']);
        _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);

        (function () {
            var ga = document.createElement('script');
            ga.type = 'text/javascript';
            ga.async = true;
            ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
            var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
            s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
        })();
    </script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/custom.css?v=1.16"/>    <script src="/js/jquery.ui.totop.js?1575549704"></script>    <script src="/js/setting.js?1575549704"></script>    <link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.json">
    <meta name="theme-color" content="#616163" />
    <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">
    <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black">
    <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" content="im4change">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/icons/logo-192x192.png">
</head>
<body id="top" class="home inner blog">
<div class="background-cover"></div>
<div class="wrapper animated">
    <header id="theme-header" class="header_inner" style="position: relative;">
        <div class="logo inner_logo" style="left:20px !important">
                <a title="Home" href="https://im4change.in/">
                    <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo2.jpg?1582080632" class="logo_image" alt="im4change"/>                </a>
        </div>
        <div class="langhindi" style="color: #000;display:none;"
             href="https://im4change.in/">
            <a class="more-link" href="https://im4change.in/">Home</a>
                        <a href="https://im4change.in/hindi/" class="langbutton ">हिन्दी</a>
                    </div>
        <nav class="fade-in animated2" id="main-nav">
            <div class="container">
                <div class="main-menu">
    <ul class="menu" id="menu-main">
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children"
            style="left: -40px;"><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/">Home</a>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item mega-menu menu-item-type-taxonomy mega-menu menu-item-object-category mega-menu menu-item-has-children parent-list"
            style=" margin-left: -40px;"><a href="#">KNOWLEDGE GATEWAY <span class="sub-indicator"></span>
            </a>
            <div class="mega-menu-block background_menu" style="padding-top:25px;">
                <div class="container">
                    <div class="mega-menu-content">
                                                                   <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Farm Crisis</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/farmers039-suicides-14.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Farm Suicides                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/unemployment-30.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Unemployment                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Rural distress                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Migration                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/key-facts-72.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Key Facts                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/debt-trap-15.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Debt Trap                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Empowerment</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/union-budget-73.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Union Budget And Other Economic Policies                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/forest-and-tribal-rights-61.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Forest and Tribal Rights                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-education-60.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Education                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-food-59.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Food                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/displacement-3279.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Displacement                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Work (MG-NREGA)                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/gender-3280.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">GENDER                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Information                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Social Audit                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Hunger / HDI</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/poverty-and-inequality-20499.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Poverty and inequality                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/malnutrition-41.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Malnutrition                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/public-health-51.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Public Health                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/education-50.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Education                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Hunger Overview                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hdi-overview-45.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">HDI Overview                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/pds-ration-food-security-42.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">PDS/ Ration/ Food Security                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/sdgs-113.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">SDGs                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/mid-day-meal-scheme-mdms-53.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Environment</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/environment/time-bomb-ticking-52.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Time Bomb Ticking                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/environment/water-and-sanitation-55.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Water and Sanitation                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/environment/impact-on-agriculture-54.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Impact on Agriculture                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Law & Justice</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/social-justice-20500.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Social Justice                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/access-to-justice-47.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Access to Justice                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/human-rights-56.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Human Rights                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/corruption-35.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Corruption                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/general-insecurity-46.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">General Insecurity                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/disaster-relief-49.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Disaster &amp; Relief                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        
                    </div>
                </div>
            </div>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page "><a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/nceus_reports.php">NCEUS reports</a>
            
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children parent-list ">
            <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/about-us-9.html">About Us <span
                    class="sub-indicator"></span></a>
            <ul class="sub-menu aboutmenu">
                <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page"><a
                        target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/objectives-8.html">Objectives</a>
                </li>
                <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page"><a
                         target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/contactus.php">Contact
                        Us</a></li>
                <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page"><a
                         target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/about-us-9.html">About
                        Us</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children ">
            <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/fellowships.php" title="Fellowships">Fellowships</a>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children  "><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/media-workshops.php">Workshops</a>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children  "><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/research.php">Research</a></li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children   "><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/links-64">Partners</a></li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children"
            id="menu-item-539"><a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hindi/"
                                  class="langbutton langlinkfont17">हिन्दी</a></li>
    </ul>
</div>            </div>


                        <!--  <div style="float: right;">
                            <script async src="https://cse.google.com/cse.js?cx=18b4f2e0f11bed3dd"></script>
                            <div class="gcse-search"></div>
                        </div> -->
                       
            <div class="search-block" style=" margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 7px;">
                <form method="get" id="searchform" name="searchform"
                      action="https://im4change.in/search"
                      onsubmit="return searchvalidate();">
                    <button class="search-button" type="submit" value="Search"></button>
                    <input type="text" id="s" name="qryStr" value=""
                           onfocus="if (this.value == 'Search...') {this.value = '';}"
                           onblur="if (this.value == '') {this.value = 'Search...';}">
                </form>
            </div>
        </nav>
    </header>
    <div class="container">
        <div id="main-content" class=" main1 container fade-in animated3 sidebar-narrow-left">
            <div class="content-wrap">
                <div class="content" style="width: 900px;min-height: 500px;">
                    <section class="cat-box recent-box innerCatRecent">
    <h1 class="cat-box-title">What Free Basics did not intend to do -Parminder Jeet Singh</h1>
    <a href="JavaScript:void(0);" onclick="return shareArticle(30266);">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/email.png?1582080630" border="0" width="24" align="right" alt="Share this article"/>    </a>

    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326/print"
       rel="nofollow">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/icon-print.png?1582080630" border="0" width="24" align="right" alt="Share this article"/>
    </a>
</section>
<section class="recent-box innerCatRecent">
    <small class="pb-1"><span class="dateIcn">
    	<img src="https://im4change.in/images/published.svg?1582080666" alt="published"/> 
		 Published on</span><span class="text-date"> Jan 14, 2016</span>
        &nbsp; <span
                class="dateIcn">
		 	<img src="https://im4change.in/images/modified.svg?1582080666" alt="modified"/>    	 Modified on </span><span class="text-date"> Jan 14, 2016</span>
    </small>
</section>
<div class="clear"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 10px;">
    <div class="innerLineHeight">
        <div class="middleContent innerInput latest-news-updates">
            <table>
                <tr>
                    <td>
                                                <div>
                            <div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation.<br /></em><br />In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the Indian public. It must be regretting it now. The social networking service&rsquo;s reportedly Rs. 100-crore campaign, through double full-page newspaper advertisements, billboards and television, appears simply to have congealed public opinion against Free Basics. Everyone seems to be eager to discuss and write about what is wrong with Free Basics. When the regulator had last called for Net neutrality-related inputs, in May 2015, the opinions were relatively more divided. If they are so much more polarised today against Free Basics and Net neutrality violations, the manner in which Facebook pushed this campaign does bear some responsibility for it.<br /><br />Facebook&rsquo;s campaign may actually have ended up doing a lot of good to India, which, after all, was its professed goal. We must thank Facebook for that. These benefits have been on two explicit fronts, and one more which will become apparent in some time.<br /><br /><em>The Internet as a right <br /></em><br />First, the campaign forced everyone to respond to the question, &lsquo;can those in poverty be denied connectivity?&rsquo; The obvious answer being &lsquo;no&rsquo;, everyone had to come up with concrete alternatives. As a result, something interesting happened. Even with the current middle-class sentiment largely being pro-free markets and anti-government subsidies, a strong opinion has emerged that those who cannot afford connectivity must be provided some basic free connectivity as an entitlement to be ensured by the government. It can be in the form of a limited data package. Many commentators as well as responses to the regulator&rsquo;s consultation have sought such an entitlement.<br /><br />This should make the regulator and the government think seriously about some such data entitlement for every citizen. It could also have an impact on how connectivity through the government&rsquo;s National Optical Fibre Network will be provided to the people. This network, connecting almost the whole of rural India, is expected to be in place within the next two-four years. Such emerging public opinion in favour of free basic connectivity, if concretised into public policy, will be the first true expression of the Internet as a right, a concept which has begun to be discussed globally.<br /><br />The second unintended consequence of the Free Basics campaign has been a groundswell of public consciousness that now sees the Internet not just in pure market terms, but as a unique social phenomenon which requires special public interest regulation. The last round of Net neutrality consultation was the first heave in this direction, but it was still a bit tentative and immature. It is also much easier for people to see the logic for an Internet that treats all content equally, than develop a case against a free service. (Remember, free service is already the dominant Internet service model in application and content layers, a point which we will come to later.) That the Indian public could form a considered opinion on this rather complex social and policy issue is heartening to note. It is likely to usher a new era of Internet rights activism, with people claiming digital technologies as a right and not just something that the market provides on its own terms.<br /><br />At the many public interest discussions on this subject, people came up with ingenious analogies. One person said, &ldquo;I am ready to pay the auto driver according to the distance travelled, not based on the destination that I go to.&rdquo; Another said, &ldquo;Free Basics is like someone giving you cooking gas for free, but being able to decide what you will cook with it.&rdquo; There is an emergence of a very sophisticated orientation as to how people see the Internet in terms of its very crucial and strong role in society today, and its hidden manipulative possibilities.<br /><br />The cooking analogy is not a far-fetched one if one projects ahead into the emerging world of Internet of Things. The Internet can be seen as a new neutral system of society, one that organises our lives, which can become very dangerous if its manipulative potential is not closely watched and kept in check. There will always be corporatist tendencies to place &lsquo;control points&rsquo; on this neutral network, with various kinds of free services as the incentive, but which would lead to far greater economic and other forms of exploitation.<br /><br /><em>Neutrality in all layers<br /></em><br />This brings us to the third unintended consequence of the Facebook campaign. This is only being informally talked about as of now, but will break into prominence soon when other similar &lsquo;platform abuses&rsquo; come to the fore. This is about how Facebook used its monopoly social networking platform for a huge political campaign in its own favour, making and sharing lakhs (11 million, according to Facebook) of template responses to the regulator&rsquo;s consultation. The same platform functionality was not available to other users, who could be holding other views on the subject.<br /><br />The implications of such &lsquo;platform abuse&rsquo; are not difficult to see. Imagine a close election contest in the future when Facebook, say, has 70 per cent of adult Indians as its users. There are two main parties and, say, FDI or higher corporate taxes has become the key election issue. What if Facebook does a similar campaign two weeks before the elections, taking a strong position favouring one side, reaching and &lsquo;engaging&rsquo; its users in a manner that others cannot do using the same platform?<br /><br />The question then is, if a telco cannot be allowed to provide different functionalities on its platform to different content and application-providers, how can a monopoly social networking platform be allowed to discriminate among its users in such a blatant way and with such far-reaching social consequences? It is much easier to switch between telcos today than to even find a good alternative to the Facebook platform.<br /><br />Net neutrality and &lsquo;zero-rating&rsquo; are therefore just the first key Internet regulation issues that we are facing. As the Internet quickly transforms our social systems and becomes an essential element, there will soon be other kinds of &lsquo;platform neutrality&rsquo; issues.<br /><br />The EU is already conducting a public consultation on &lsquo;platform governance&rsquo;. The French Digital Council has brought out a comprehensive report on platform neutrality. A draft bill on Internet rights in the Italian legislature lays out public interest guidelines for platforms.<br /><br />The keen public engagement with the issue of Net neutrality and zero-rating indicates that we will soon hear about other kinds of platform abuses as well, along with calls for corresponding Internet regulation.<br /><em><br />(Parminder Jeet Singh works with the Bengaluru-based NGO, IT for Change. He has been an advisor to the Chair of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum. Email: parminder@itforchange.net) </em><br /></div>                                                           
                        </div>
                    </td>
                </tr>
            </table>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
    <br><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do/article8102897.ece?homepage=true" class="re" target="_blank">The Hindu, 14 January, 2016, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do/article8102897.ece?homepage=true</a><div class="clear"></div>
    <div style="padding-top: 18px;">
        <p class="post-tag">Tagged with:
                            <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Digital Freedom"
                   title="Digital Freedom">
                    Digital Freedom                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Digital Media"
                   title="Digital Media">
                    Digital Media                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Digital Divide"
                   title="Digital Divide">
                    Digital Divide                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Access to Internet"
                   title="Access to Internet">
                    Access to Internet                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Free Basics"
                   title="Free Basics">
                    Free Basics                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Net Neutrality"
                   title="Net Neutrality">
                    Net Neutrality                </a>
                        </p>
    </div>
<div class="clear"></div>
    <br><br>
    <div class="widget-top">
        <h4>Related Articles</h4>
        <div class="stripe-line"></div>
    </div>
    <div class="widget-container">
        <ul id="recentcomments">
                            <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/digital-divide-tech-access-limited-to-male-urban-upper-caste-class-says-oxfam-report.html"
                       title="Digital Divide: Tech Access Limited to Male, Urban, Upper Caste & Class, Says Oxfam Report">
                        Digital Divide: Tech Access Limited to Male, Urban, Upper Caste & Class, Says Oxfam Report                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/tv-channels-dominate-as-news-source-despite-poor-trust-levels-csds-survey.html"
                       title="TV channels dominate as news source, despite poor trust levels: CSDS survey">
                        TV channels dominate as news source, despite poor trust levels: CSDS survey                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/good-news-editorial-on-print-media-remaining-the-most-trusted-source-of-information.html"
                       title="Good news: Editorial on print media remaining the most trusted source of information">
                        Good news: Editorial on print media remaining the most trusted source of information                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/bridging-the-gender-digital-divide-to-get-women-into-the-workforce-soma-wadhwa.html"
                       title="Bridging the gender digital divide to get women into the workforce -Soma Wadhwa">
                        Bridging the gender digital divide to get women into the workforce -Soma Wadhwa                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/digital-news-to-be-regulated-in-amended-law-in-a-first-sunil-prabhu.html"
                       title="Digital News To Be Regulated In Amended Law In A First -Sunil Prabhu">
                        Digital News To Be Regulated In Amended Law In A First -Sunil Prabhu                    </a>
                </li>
                
        </ul>
    </div>
    <div class="comment-respond" id="respond">
    <a name="commentbox">&nbsp;</a>
    <h3 class="comment-reply-title" id="reply-title">Write Comments</h3>
    <form method="post" accept-charset="utf-8" role="form" action="/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html"><div style="display:none;"><input type="hidden" name="_method" value="POST"/></div>    <form class="comment-form" id="commentform" method="post" action="#commentbox" onSubmit="return validate()"
          name="cmtform">
        <input type="hidden" name="cmttype" value="articlecmt"/>
        <input type="hidden" name="article_id" value="30266"/>
        <p class="comment-notes">Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked <span
                    class="required">*</span></p>
                <p class="comment-form-author">
            <label for="commenterName">Name</label>
            <span class="required">*</span>
            <input type="text" aria-required="true" size="30"
                   value=""
                   name="commenterName" id="commenterName" required="true">
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-email">
            <label for="commenterEmail">Email</label> <span class="required">*</span>
            <input aria-required="true" size="30" name="commenterEmail" id="commenterEmail" type="email"
                   value=""
                   required="true">
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-contact">
            <label for="commenterPh">Contact No.</label>
            <input type="text" size="30"
                   value=""
                   name="commenterPh" id="commenterPh">
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-comment">
            <label for="comment">Comment</label>
            <textarea aria-required="true" required="true" rows="8" cols="45" name="comment"
                      id="comment"></textarea>
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-comment">
            <label for="comment">Type the characters you see in the image below <span class="required">*</span><br><img
                        class="captchaImg"
                        src="https://im4change.in/securimage_show_art.php?tk=1292167289" alt="captcha"/>
            </label>
        </p>
        <input type="text" name="vrcode" required="true"/>

        <p class="form-submit" style="width: 200px;">
            <input type="submit" value="Post Comment" id="submit" name="submit">
        </p></form>
</div>
<style>
    .ui-widget-content {
        height: auto !important;
    }
</style>
<div id="share-modal"></div>
<style>
    .middleContent a{
        background-color: rgba(108,172,228,.2);
    }
    .middleContent a:hover{
        background-color: #418fde;
        border-color: #418fde;
        color: #000;
        }
</style>
<script>
    function shareArticle(article_id) {
        var options = {
            modal: true,
            height: 'auto',
            width: 600 + 'px'
        };
        $('#share-modal').html("");
        $('#share-modal').load('https://im4change.in/share_article?article_id=' + article_id).dialog(options).dialog('open');
    }

    function postShare() {
        var param = 'article_id=' + $("#article_id").val();
        param = param + '&y_name=' + $("#y_name").val();
        param = param + '&y_email=' + $("#y_email").val();
        param = param + '&f_name=' + $("#f_name").val();
        param = param + '&f_email=' + $("#f_email").val();
        param = param + '&y_msg=' + $("#y_msg").val();

        $.ajax({
            type: "POST",
            url: 'https://im4change.in/post_share_article',
            data: param,
            success: function (response) {
                $('#share-modal').html("Thank You, Your message posted to ");
            }
        });
        return false;
    }
</script>                </div>
            </div>
            <!-- Right Side Section Start -->
<!-- MAP Section START -->
<aside class="sidebar indexMarg">
    <div class="ad-cell">
        <a href="https://im4change.in/statemap.php" title="">
            <img src="https://im4change.in/images/map_new_version.png?1582080666" alt="India State Map" class="indiamap" width="232" height="252"/>        </a>
        <div class="rightmapbox">
            <div id="sideOne" class="docltitle"><a href="https://im4change.in/state-report/india/36" target="_blank">DOCUMENTS/
                    REPORTS</a></div>
            <div id="sideTwo" class="statetitle"><a href="https://im4change.in/states.php"target="_blank">STATE DATA/
                    HDRs.</a></div>
        </div>
        <div class="widget widgePadTop"></div>
    </div>
</aside>
<!-- MAP Section END -->
<aside class="sidebar sidePadbottom">
    <div class="rightsmlbox1" >
        <a href="https://im4change.in/knowledge_gateway" target="_blank" style="color: #035588;
    font-size: 17px;">
            KNOWLEDGE GATEWAY
        </a>
    </div>
    <div class="rightsmlbox1">

        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title">
                <a href="https://im4change.in/newsletter" target="_blank">
                    NEWSLETTER
                </a>
            </p>
        </div>
    </div>
        <div class="rightsmlbox1" style="height: 325px;">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title">
                Interview with Prof. Ravi Srivastava
            </p>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title">
                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/interview-with-prof-ravi-srivastava-on-current-economic-crisis">
                <img width="250" height="200" src="/images/interview_video_home.jpg" alt="Interview with Prof. Ravi Srivastava"/>
                </a>
                <!--
                <iframe width="250" height="200" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MmaTlntk-wc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>-->
               
            </p>
            <a href="https://im4change.in/videogallery" class="more-link CatArchalAnch1" target="_blank">
                                More videos
                            </a>
        </div>
    </div>
    
        <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <!--div id="sstory" class="rightboxicons"></div--->
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a href="https://im4change.in/list-success-stories"  target="_blank">Success Stories</a></p>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a
                        href="https://im4change.in/interviews"  target="_blank">Interviews</a>
            </p>
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a href="https://www.commoncause.in/page.php?id=10" >Donate</a></p>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a
        href="https://im4change.in/marquee"
        class="isf_link more-link" title="India Focus?" style="border: 4px solid #fdd922;width: 90%;background-color: #fdd922;text-align: center;color: #000000;font-size:18px"  target="_blank">India Focus</a></p>        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="rightsmlbox1" style="height: 104px !important;">
        <a href="https://im4change.in/quarterly_reports.php" target="_blank">
            Quarterly Reports on Effect of Economic Slowdown on Employment in India (2008 - 2015)
        </a>
    </div>
    
<!--     <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.im4.im4change" target="_blank">
            
        </a></div> -->
    <!-- <section class="cat-box recent-box secMarg">
        <h2 class="cat-box-title">Most Visited</h2>
    </section> -->
    <!-- accordion Starts here -->
    <!-- <div id="accordion" class="accordMarg">
            </div> -->
    <!-- accordion ends here -->
    <!-- Widget Tag Cloud Starts here -->
    <div id="tag_cloud-2" class="widget widget_tag_cloud">
        <section class="cat-box recent-box secMarg">
                <h2 class="cat-box-title">MOST VISITED TAGS</h2>
            </section>
        <div class="widget-top wiPdTp">
           
            <div class="stripe-line"></div>
        </div>
        <div class="widget-container">
            <div class="tagcloud">
                                    <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Agriculture"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Agriculture</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Food Security"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Food Security</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Law and Justice"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Law and Justice</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Health"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Health</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Right to Food"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Right to Food</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Corruption"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Corruption</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=farming"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">farming</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Environment"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Environment</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Right to Information"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Right to Information</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=NREGS"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">NREGS</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Human Rights"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Human Rights</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Governance"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Governance</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PDS"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PDS</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=COVID-19"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">COVID-19</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Land Acquisition"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Land Acquisition</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=mgnrega"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">mgnrega</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Farmers"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Farmers</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=transparency"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">transparency</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Gender"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Gender</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Poverty"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Poverty</a>
                                    
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Farm Laws" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Farm Laws
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Citizenship Amendment Act" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Citizenship Amendment Act
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=CAA NPR NRIC" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">CAA NPR NRIC
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Job Losses" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Job Losses
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Migrant Workers" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Migrant Workers
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Unemployment" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Unemployment
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PMGKAY" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PMGKAY
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PM-KISAN" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PM-KISAN
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PM-CARES" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PM-CARES
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=LFPR" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">LFPR
                </a>
                
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <!-- Widget Tag Cloud Ends here -->
</aside>
<!-- Right Side Section End -->
        </div>
        <section class="cat-box cats-review-box footerSec">
    <h2 class="cat-box-title vSec CatArcha">Video
        Archives</h2>
    <h2 class="cat-box-title CatArchaTitle">Archives</h2>
    <div class="cat-box-content">
        <div class="reviews-cat">
            <div class="CatArchaDiv1">
                <div class="CatArchaDiv2">
                    <ul>
                                                    <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/moving-upstream-luni-fellowship.html"  target="_blank">
                                     Moving Upstream: Luni – Fellowship                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/135-million-indians-exited-multidimensional-poverty-as-per-government-figures-is-that-the-same-as-poverty-reduction.html"  target="_blank">
                                     135 Million Indians Exited “Multidimensional" Poverty as per Government...                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/explainer-why-are-tomato-prices-on-fire.html"  target="_blank">
                                     Explainer: Why are Tomato Prices on Fire?                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/nsso-survey-only-39-1-of-all-households-have-drinking-water-within-dwelling-46-7-of-rural-households-use-firewood-for-cooking.html"  target="_blank">
                                     NSSO Survey: Only 39.1% of all Households have Drinking...                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                    <li class="CatArchalLi1">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57"
                               class="more-link CatArchalAnch1"  target="_blank">
                                More...
                            </a>
                        </li>
                    </ul>
                </div>
                                    <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/I51LYnP8BOk/1.jpg"
                             alt=" Im4Change.org हिंदी वेबसाइट का परिचय. Short Video on im4change.org...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Short-Video-on-im4change-Hindi-website-Inclusive-Media-for-Change"  target="_blank">
                                 Im4Change.org हिंदी वेबसाइट का परिचय. Short Video on im4change.org...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                                        <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/kNqha-SwfIY/1.jpg"
                             alt=" "Session 1: Scope of IDEA and AgriStack" in Exploring...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Session-1- Scope-of-IDEA-and-AgriStack-in-Exploring-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-29-April-2022"  target="_blank">
                                 "Session 1: Scope of IDEA and AgriStack" in Exploring...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                                        <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/6kIVjlgZItk/1.jpg"
                             alt=" "Session 2: Farmer Centric Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Session-2-Farmer-Centric-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-in-Exploring-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-29-April-2022"  target="_blank">
                                 "Session 2: Farmer Centric Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                                        <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/2BeHTu0y7xc/1.jpg"
                             alt=" "Session 3: Future of Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Session-3-Future-of-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-in-Exploring-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-29-April-2022"  target="_blank">
                                 "Session 3: Future of Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                    


                <div class="divWidth">
                    <ul class="divWidthMarg">
                                                    <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Public-Spending-on-Agriculture-in-India-Source-Foundation-for-Agrarian-Studies"
                                   title="Public Spending on Agriculture in India (Source: Foundation for Agrarian Studies)"  target="_blank">
                                     Public Spending on Agriculture in India (Source: Foundation for...</a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Agrarian-Change-Seminar-Protests-against-the-New-Farm-Laws-in-India-by-Prof-Vikas-Rawal-JNU-Source-Journal-Of-Agrarian-Change"
                                   title="Agrarian Change Seminar: 'Protests against the New Farm Laws in India' by Prof. Vikas Rawal, JNU (Source: Journal Of Agrarian Change) "  target="_blank">
                                     Agrarian Change Seminar: 'Protests against the New Farm Laws...</a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Webinar-Ramrao-The-Story-of-India-Farm-Crisis-Source-Azim-Premji-University"
                                   title="Webinar: Ramrao - The Story of India's Farm Crisis (Source: Azim Premji University)"  target="_blank">
                                     Webinar: Ramrao - The Story of India's Farm Crisis...</a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/water-and-agricultural-transformation-in-India"
                                   title="Water and Agricultural Transformation in India: A Symbiotic Relationship (Source: IGIDR)"  target="_blank">
                                     Water and Agricultural Transformation in India: A Symbiotic Relationship...</a>
                            </li>
                                                    <li class="CatArchalLi1">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/videogallery"
                               class="more-link CatArchalAnch1"  target="_blank">
                                More...
                            </a>
                        </li>
                    </ul>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</section>    </div>
    <div class="clear"></div>
    <!-- Footer option Starts here -->
    <div class="footer-bottom fade-in animated4">
        <div class="container">
            <div class="social-icons icon_flat">
                <p class="SocialMargTop"> Website Developed by <a target="_blank" title="Web Development"
                                                                  class="wot right"
                                                                  href="http://www.ravinderkhurana.com/" rel="nofollow">
                                                                  RAVINDErkHURANA.com</a></p>
            </div>
            <div class="alignleft">
                <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/objectives-8.html"
    class="link"
    title="Objectives">Objectives</a> | <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/about-us-9.html"
    class="link" title="About Us">About Us</a> | <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/media-workshops.php"
    class="ucwords">Workshops</a> | <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/disclaimer/disclaimer-149.html"
    title="Disclaimer">Disclaimer</a>            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <!-- Footer option ends here -->
</div>
<div id="connect">
    <a target="_blank"
       href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html"
       title="Share on Facebook">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/Facebook.png?1582080640" alt="share on Facebook" class="ImgBorder"/>
    </a><br/>
    <a target="_blank"
       href="http://twitter.com/share?text=Im4change&amp;url=https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html"
       title="Share on Twitter">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/twitter.png?1582080632" alt="Twitter" class="ImgBorder"/>    </a>
    <br/>
    <a href="/feeds" title="RSS Feed" target="_blank">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/rss.png?1582080632" alt="RSS" class="ImgBorder"/>
    </a>
    <br/>
    <a class="feedback-link" id="feedbackFormLink" href="#">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/feedback.png?1582080630" alt="Feedback" class="ImgBorder"/>
    </a> <br/>
    <a href="javascript:function iprl5(){var d=document,z=d.createElement('scr'+'ipt'),b=d.body,l=d.location;try{if(!b)throw(0);d.title='(Saving...) '+d.title;z.setAttribute('src',l.protocol+'//www.instapaper.com/j/WKrH3R7ORD5p?u='+encodeURIComponent(l.href)+'&amp;t='+(new Date().getTime()));b.appendChild(z);}catch(e){alert('Please wait until the page has loaded.');}}iprl5();void(0)"
       class="bookmarklet" onclick="return explain_bookmarklet();">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/read-it-later.png?1582080632" alt="Read Later" class="ImgBorder"/>    </a>
</div>
<!-- Feedback form Starts here -->
<div id="feedbackForm" class="overlay_form" class="ImgBorder">
    <h2>Contact Form</h2>
    <div id="contactform1">
        <div id="formleft">
            <form id="submitform" action="/contactus.php" method="post">
                <input type="hidden" name="submitform" value="submitform"/>
                <input type="hidden" name="salt_key" value="a0e0f2c6a0644a70e57ad2c96829709a"/>
                <input type="hidden" name="ref" value="feedback"/>
                <fieldset>
                    <label>Name :</label>
                    <input type="text" name="name" class="tbox" required/>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    <label>Email :</label>
                    <input type="text" name="email" class="tbox" required/>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    <label>Message :</label>
                    <textarea rows="5" cols="20" name="message" required></textarea>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    Please enter security code
                    <div class="clear"></div>
                    <input type="text" name="vrcode" class="tbox"/>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    <input type="submit" class="button" value="Submit"/>
                    &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#" id="closefeedbakcformLink">Close</a>
                </fieldset>
            </form>
        </div>
        <div class="clearfix"></div>
    </div>
</div>
<div id="donate_popup" class="modal" style="max-width: 800px;">
    <table width="100%" border="1">
        <tr>
            <td colspan="2" align="center">
                <b>Support im4change</b>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td width="25%" valign="middle">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo2.jpg?1582080632" alt="" width="100%"/>            </td>
            <td style="padding-left:10px;padding-top:10px;">
                <form action="https://im4change.in/donate" method="get">
                    <table width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
                        <tr>
                            <td width="33%" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                10
                            </td>
                            <td width="33%" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                100
                            </td>
                            <td width="33%" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                1000
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td colspan="3">
                                &nbsp;
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td  style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                50
                            </td>
                            <td  style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                500
                            </td>
                            <td  style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                <input type="text" name="price" placeholder="?" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td colspan="3">
                                &nbsp;
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td colspan="3" align="right">
                                <input type="button" name="Pay" value="Pay"
                                       style="width: 200px;background-color: rgb(205, 35, 36);color: #ffffff;"/>
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                    </table>
                </form>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div><script type='text/javascript'>

    /* <![CDATA[ */

    var tievar = {'go_to': 'Go to...'};

    /* ]]> */

</script>
<script src="/js/tie-scripts.js?1575549704"></script><script src="/js/bootstrap.js?1575549704"></script><script src="/js/jquery.modal.min.js?1578284310"></script><script>
    $(document).ready(function() {
        // tell the autocomplete function to get its data from our php script
        $('#s').autocomplete({
            source: "/autocomplete"
        });
    });
</script>
<script src="/vj-main-sw-register.js" async></script>

<script>function init(){var imgDefer=document.getElementsByTagName('img');for(var i=0;i<imgDefer.length;i++){if(imgDefer[i].getAttribute('data-src')){imgDefer[i].setAttribute('src',imgDefer[i].getAttribute('data-src'))}}}
window.onload=init;</script>
</body>
</html>'

}
$maxBufferLength = (int) 8192
$file = '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php'
$line = (int) 853
$message = 'Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853'
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Code Context
            $response->getStatusCode(),

            ($reasonPhrase ? ' ' . $reasonPhrase : '')

        ));
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html>
<!--[if lt IE 7 ]>
<html class="ie ie6" lang='en'> <![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 7 ]>
<html class="ie ie7" lang='en'> <![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 8 ]>
<html class="ie ie8" lang='en'> <![endif]-->
<!--[if (gte IE 9)|!(IE)]><!-->
<html lang='en'>
<!--<![endif]-->
<head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
    
    <title>
        LATEST NEWS UPDATES | What Free Basics did not intend to do -Parminder Jeet Singh    </title>
    <meta name="description" content="
-The Hindu

The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation.

In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the..."/>
    <meta name="keywords" content="Digital Freedom,Digital Media,Digital Divide,Access to Internet,Free Basics,Net Neutrality"/>
    <meta name="news_keywords" content="Digital Freedom,Digital Media,Digital Divide,Access to Internet,Free Basics,Net Neutrality">
   
    <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="ROR" href="/ror.xml"/>
    <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS 2.0" href="/feeds/"/>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/bootstrap.min.css?1697864993"/>    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css?v=1.1.2"/>    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style-inner.css?1577045210"/>    <link rel="stylesheet" id="Oswald-css"
          href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Oswald%3Aregular%2C700&amp;ver=3.8.1" type="text/css"
          media="all">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/jquery.modal.min.css?1578285302"/>    <script src="/js/jquery-1.10.2.js?1575549704"></script>    <script src="/js/jquery-migrate.min.js?1575549704"></script>    <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" title="Favicon">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/jquery-ui.css?1580720609"/>    <script src="/js/jquery-ui.js?1575549704"></script>    <link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/custom.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/jquery.modal.min.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/jquery-ui.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/li-scroller.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<!-- <link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/style.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous"> -->
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/style-inner.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">

<link rel='dns-prefetch' href="//im4change.org/css/custom.css" crossorigin >

<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/bootstrap.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery.li-scroller.1.0.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery.modal.min.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery.ui.totop.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery-1.10.2.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery-migrate.min.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery-ui.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/setting.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/tie-scripts.js">
    <!--[if IE]>
    <script type="text/javascript">jQuery(document).ready(function () {
        jQuery(".menu-item").has("ul").children("a").attr("aria-haspopup", "true");
    });</script>
    <![endif]-->
    <!--[if lt IE 9]>
    <script src="/js/html5.js"></script>
    <script src="/js/selectivizr-min.js"></script>
    <![endif]-->
    <!--[if IE 8]>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="/css/ie8.css"/>
    <![endif]-->
    <meta property="og:title" content="LATEST NEWS UPDATES | What Free Basics did not intend to do -Parminder Jeet Singh" />
     <meta property="og:url" content="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html" />
     <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
     <meta property="og:description" content="
-The Hindu

The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation.

In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the..." />
     <meta property="og:image" content="" />
      <meta property="fb:app_id" content="0" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no">

       <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="144x144" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple1.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="120x120" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple2.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="72x72" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple3.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple4.png">

    <style>
    .gsc-results-wrapper-overlay{
        top: 38% !important;
        height: 50% !important;
    }
    .gsc-search-button-v2{
        border-color: #035588 !important;
        background-color: #035588 !important;
    }

   .gsib_a{
        height: 30px !important;
          padding: 2px 8px 1px 6px !important;
    }

   
    .gsc-search-button-v2{
        height: 41px !important;
    }
    input.gsc-input{
        background: none !important;
    }
    @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {
        .gsc-results-wrapper-overlay{
            top: 11% !important;
            width: 87% !important;
            left: 9% !important;
            height: 43% !important;
        }

        .gsc-search-button-v2{
            padding: 10px 10px !important;
        
        }
        .gsc-input-box{
            height: 28px !important;
        }
       /* .gsib_a {
            padding: 0px 9px 4px 9px !important;
        }*/
    }
    @media only screen and (min-width: 1200px) and (max-width: 1920px) {
        table.gsc-search-box{
            width: 15% !important;
            float: right !important;
            margin-top: -118px !important;
        }

        .gsc-search-button-v2 {
            
            padding: 6px !important;
           
        }
    }


</style>

    <script>
        $(function () {
            $("#accordion").accordion({
                event: "click hoverintent"
            });
        });

        /*
         * hoverIntent | Copyright 2011 Brian Cherne
         * http://cherne.net/brian/resources/jquery.hoverIntent.html
         * modified by the jQuery UI team
         */
        $.event.special.hoverintent = {
            setup: function () {
                $(this).bind("mouseover", jQuery.event.special.hoverintent.handler);
            },
            teardown: function () {
                $(this).unbind("mouseover", jQuery.event.special.hoverintent.handler);
            },
            handler: function (event) {
                var currentX, currentY, timeout,
                    args = arguments,
                    target = $(event.target),
                    previousX = event.pageX,
                    previousY = event.pageY;

                function track(event) {
                    currentX = event.pageX;
                    currentY = event.pageY;
                }
                ;

                function clear() {
                    target
                        .unbind("mousemove", track)
                        .unbind("mouseout", clear);
                    clearTimeout(timeout);
                }

                function handler() {
                    var prop,
                        orig = event;
                    if ((Math.abs(previousX - currentX) +
                        Math.abs(previousY - currentY)) < 7) {
                        clear();
                        event = $.Event("hoverintent");
                        for (prop in orig) {
                            if (!(prop in event)) {
                                event[prop] = orig[prop];
                            }
                        }
                        // Prevent accessing the original event since the new event
                        // is fired asynchronously and the old event is no longer
                        // usable (#6028)
                        delete event.originalEvent;
                        target.trigger(event);
                    } else {
                        previousX = currentX;
                        previousY = currentY;
                        timeout = setTimeout(handler, 100);
                    }
                }

                timeout = setTimeout(handler, 100);
                target.bind({
                    mousemove: track,
                    mouseout: clear
                });
            }
        };
    </script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        var _gaq = _gaq || [];
        _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-472075-3']);
        _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);

        (function () {
            var ga = document.createElement('script');
            ga.type = 'text/javascript';
            ga.async = true;
            ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
            var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
            s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
        })();
    </script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/custom.css?v=1.16"/>    <script src="/js/jquery.ui.totop.js?1575549704"></script>    <script src="/js/setting.js?1575549704"></script>    <link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.json">
    <meta name="theme-color" content="#616163" />
    <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">
    <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black">
    <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" content="im4change">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/icons/logo-192x192.png">
</head>
<body id="top" class="home inner blog">
<div class="background-cover"></div>
<div class="wrapper animated">
    <header id="theme-header" class="header_inner" style="position: relative;">
        <div class="logo inner_logo" style="left:20px !important">
                <a title="Home" href="https://im4change.in/">
                    <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo2.jpg?1582080632" class="logo_image" alt="im4change"/>                </a>
        </div>
        <div class="langhindi" style="color: #000;display:none;"
             href="https://im4change.in/">
            <a class="more-link" href="https://im4change.in/">Home</a>
                        <a href="https://im4change.in/hindi/" class="langbutton ">हिन्दी</a>
                    </div>
        <nav class="fade-in animated2" id="main-nav">
            <div class="container">
                <div class="main-menu">
    <ul class="menu" id="menu-main">
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children"
            style="left: -40px;"><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/">Home</a>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item mega-menu menu-item-type-taxonomy mega-menu menu-item-object-category mega-menu menu-item-has-children parent-list"
            style=" margin-left: -40px;"><a href="#">KNOWLEDGE GATEWAY <span class="sub-indicator"></span>
            </a>
            <div class="mega-menu-block background_menu" style="padding-top:25px;">
                <div class="container">
                    <div class="mega-menu-content">
                                                                   <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Farm Crisis</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/farmers039-suicides-14.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Farm Suicides                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/unemployment-30.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Unemployment                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Rural distress                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Migration                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/key-facts-72.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Key Facts                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/debt-trap-15.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Debt Trap                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Empowerment</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/union-budget-73.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Union Budget And Other Economic Policies                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/forest-and-tribal-rights-61.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Forest and Tribal Rights                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-education-60.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Education                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-food-59.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Food                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/displacement-3279.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Displacement                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Work (MG-NREGA)                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/gender-3280.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">GENDER                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Information                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Social Audit                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Hunger / HDI</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/poverty-and-inequality-20499.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Poverty and inequality                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/malnutrition-41.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Malnutrition                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/public-health-51.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Public Health                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/education-50.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Education                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Hunger Overview                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hdi-overview-45.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">HDI Overview                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/pds-ration-food-security-42.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">PDS/ Ration/ Food Security                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/sdgs-113.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">SDGs                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/mid-day-meal-scheme-mdms-53.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Environment</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/environment/time-bomb-ticking-52.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Time Bomb Ticking                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/environment/water-and-sanitation-55.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Water and Sanitation                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/environment/impact-on-agriculture-54.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Impact on Agriculture                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Law & Justice</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/social-justice-20500.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Social Justice                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/access-to-justice-47.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Access to Justice                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/human-rights-56.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Human Rights                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/corruption-35.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Corruption                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/general-insecurity-46.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">General Insecurity                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/disaster-relief-49.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Disaster &amp; Relief                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        
                    </div>
                </div>
            </div>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page "><a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/nceus_reports.php">NCEUS reports</a>
            
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children parent-list ">
            <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/about-us-9.html">About Us <span
                    class="sub-indicator"></span></a>
            <ul class="sub-menu aboutmenu">
                <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page"><a
                        target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/objectives-8.html">Objectives</a>
                </li>
                <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page"><a
                         target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/contactus.php">Contact
                        Us</a></li>
                <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page"><a
                         target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/about-us-9.html">About
                        Us</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children ">
            <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/fellowships.php" title="Fellowships">Fellowships</a>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children  "><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/media-workshops.php">Workshops</a>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children  "><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/research.php">Research</a></li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children   "><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/links-64">Partners</a></li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children"
            id="menu-item-539"><a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hindi/"
                                  class="langbutton langlinkfont17">हिन्दी</a></li>
    </ul>
</div>            </div>


                        <!--  <div style="float: right;">
                            <script async src="https://cse.google.com/cse.js?cx=18b4f2e0f11bed3dd"></script>
                            <div class="gcse-search"></div>
                        </div> -->
                       
            <div class="search-block" style=" margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 7px;">
                <form method="get" id="searchform" name="searchform"
                      action="https://im4change.in/search"
                      onsubmit="return searchvalidate();">
                    <button class="search-button" type="submit" value="Search"></button>
                    <input type="text" id="s" name="qryStr" value=""
                           onfocus="if (this.value == 'Search...') {this.value = '';}"
                           onblur="if (this.value == '') {this.value = 'Search...';}">
                </form>
            </div>
        </nav>
    </header>
    <div class="container">
        <div id="main-content" class=" main1 container fade-in animated3 sidebar-narrow-left">
            <div class="content-wrap">
                <div class="content" style="width: 900px;min-height: 500px;">
                    <section class="cat-box recent-box innerCatRecent">
    <h1 class="cat-box-title">What Free Basics did not intend to do -Parminder Jeet Singh</h1>
    <a href="JavaScript:void(0);" onclick="return shareArticle(30266);">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/email.png?1582080630" border="0" width="24" align="right" alt="Share this article"/>    </a>

    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326/print"
       rel="nofollow">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/icon-print.png?1582080630" border="0" width="24" align="right" alt="Share this article"/>
    </a>
</section>
<section class="recent-box innerCatRecent">
    <small class="pb-1"><span class="dateIcn">
    	<img src="https://im4change.in/images/published.svg?1582080666" alt="published"/> 
		 Published on</span><span class="text-date"> Jan 14, 2016</span>
        &nbsp; <span
                class="dateIcn">
		 	<img src="https://im4change.in/images/modified.svg?1582080666" alt="modified"/>    	 Modified on </span><span class="text-date"> Jan 14, 2016</span>
    </small>
</section>
<div class="clear"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 10px;">
    <div class="innerLineHeight">
        <div class="middleContent innerInput latest-news-updates">
            <table>
                <tr>
                    <td>
                                                <div>
                            <div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation.<br /></em><br />In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the Indian public. It must be regretting it now. The social networking service&rsquo;s reportedly Rs. 100-crore campaign, through double full-page newspaper advertisements, billboards and television, appears simply to have congealed public opinion against Free Basics. Everyone seems to be eager to discuss and write about what is wrong with Free Basics. When the regulator had last called for Net neutrality-related inputs, in May 2015, the opinions were relatively more divided. If they are so much more polarised today against Free Basics and Net neutrality violations, the manner in which Facebook pushed this campaign does bear some responsibility for it.<br /><br />Facebook&rsquo;s campaign may actually have ended up doing a lot of good to India, which, after all, was its professed goal. We must thank Facebook for that. These benefits have been on two explicit fronts, and one more which will become apparent in some time.<br /><br /><em>The Internet as a right <br /></em><br />First, the campaign forced everyone to respond to the question, &lsquo;can those in poverty be denied connectivity?&rsquo; The obvious answer being &lsquo;no&rsquo;, everyone had to come up with concrete alternatives. As a result, something interesting happened. Even with the current middle-class sentiment largely being pro-free markets and anti-government subsidies, a strong opinion has emerged that those who cannot afford connectivity must be provided some basic free connectivity as an entitlement to be ensured by the government. It can be in the form of a limited data package. Many commentators as well as responses to the regulator&rsquo;s consultation have sought such an entitlement.<br /><br />This should make the regulator and the government think seriously about some such data entitlement for every citizen. It could also have an impact on how connectivity through the government&rsquo;s National Optical Fibre Network will be provided to the people. This network, connecting almost the whole of rural India, is expected to be in place within the next two-four years. Such emerging public opinion in favour of free basic connectivity, if concretised into public policy, will be the first true expression of the Internet as a right, a concept which has begun to be discussed globally.<br /><br />The second unintended consequence of the Free Basics campaign has been a groundswell of public consciousness that now sees the Internet not just in pure market terms, but as a unique social phenomenon which requires special public interest regulation. The last round of Net neutrality consultation was the first heave in this direction, but it was still a bit tentative and immature. It is also much easier for people to see the logic for an Internet that treats all content equally, than develop a case against a free service. (Remember, free service is already the dominant Internet service model in application and content layers, a point which we will come to later.) That the Indian public could form a considered opinion on this rather complex social and policy issue is heartening to note. It is likely to usher a new era of Internet rights activism, with people claiming digital technologies as a right and not just something that the market provides on its own terms.<br /><br />At the many public interest discussions on this subject, people came up with ingenious analogies. One person said, &ldquo;I am ready to pay the auto driver according to the distance travelled, not based on the destination that I go to.&rdquo; Another said, &ldquo;Free Basics is like someone giving you cooking gas for free, but being able to decide what you will cook with it.&rdquo; There is an emergence of a very sophisticated orientation as to how people see the Internet in terms of its very crucial and strong role in society today, and its hidden manipulative possibilities.<br /><br />The cooking analogy is not a far-fetched one if one projects ahead into the emerging world of Internet of Things. The Internet can be seen as a new neutral system of society, one that organises our lives, which can become very dangerous if its manipulative potential is not closely watched and kept in check. There will always be corporatist tendencies to place &lsquo;control points&rsquo; on this neutral network, with various kinds of free services as the incentive, but which would lead to far greater economic and other forms of exploitation.<br /><br /><em>Neutrality in all layers<br /></em><br />This brings us to the third unintended consequence of the Facebook campaign. This is only being informally talked about as of now, but will break into prominence soon when other similar &lsquo;platform abuses&rsquo; come to the fore. This is about how Facebook used its monopoly social networking platform for a huge political campaign in its own favour, making and sharing lakhs (11 million, according to Facebook) of template responses to the regulator&rsquo;s consultation. The same platform functionality was not available to other users, who could be holding other views on the subject.<br /><br />The implications of such &lsquo;platform abuse&rsquo; are not difficult to see. Imagine a close election contest in the future when Facebook, say, has 70 per cent of adult Indians as its users. There are two main parties and, say, FDI or higher corporate taxes has become the key election issue. What if Facebook does a similar campaign two weeks before the elections, taking a strong position favouring one side, reaching and &lsquo;engaging&rsquo; its users in a manner that others cannot do using the same platform?<br /><br />The question then is, if a telco cannot be allowed to provide different functionalities on its platform to different content and application-providers, how can a monopoly social networking platform be allowed to discriminate among its users in such a blatant way and with such far-reaching social consequences? It is much easier to switch between telcos today than to even find a good alternative to the Facebook platform.<br /><br />Net neutrality and &lsquo;zero-rating&rsquo; are therefore just the first key Internet regulation issues that we are facing. As the Internet quickly transforms our social systems and becomes an essential element, there will soon be other kinds of &lsquo;platform neutrality&rsquo; issues.<br /><br />The EU is already conducting a public consultation on &lsquo;platform governance&rsquo;. The French Digital Council has brought out a comprehensive report on platform neutrality. A draft bill on Internet rights in the Italian legislature lays out public interest guidelines for platforms.<br /><br />The keen public engagement with the issue of Net neutrality and zero-rating indicates that we will soon hear about other kinds of platform abuses as well, along with calls for corresponding Internet regulation.<br /><em><br />(Parminder Jeet Singh works with the Bengaluru-based NGO, IT for Change. He has been an advisor to the Chair of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum. Email: parminder@itforchange.net) </em><br /></div>                                                           
                        </div>
                    </td>
                </tr>
            </table>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
    <br><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do/article8102897.ece?homepage=true" class="re" target="_blank">The Hindu, 14 January, 2016, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do/article8102897.ece?homepage=true</a><div class="clear"></div>
    <div style="padding-top: 18px;">
        <p class="post-tag">Tagged with:
                            <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Digital Freedom"
                   title="Digital Freedom">
                    Digital Freedom                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Digital Media"
                   title="Digital Media">
                    Digital Media                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Digital Divide"
                   title="Digital Divide">
                    Digital Divide                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Access to Internet"
                   title="Access to Internet">
                    Access to Internet                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Free Basics"
                   title="Free Basics">
                    Free Basics                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Net Neutrality"
                   title="Net Neutrality">
                    Net Neutrality                </a>
                        </p>
    </div>
<div class="clear"></div>
    <br><br>
    <div class="widget-top">
        <h4>Related Articles</h4>
        <div class="stripe-line"></div>
    </div>
    <div class="widget-container">
        <ul id="recentcomments">
                            <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/digital-divide-tech-access-limited-to-male-urban-upper-caste-class-says-oxfam-report.html"
                       title="Digital Divide: Tech Access Limited to Male, Urban, Upper Caste & Class, Says Oxfam Report">
                        Digital Divide: Tech Access Limited to Male, Urban, Upper Caste & Class, Says Oxfam Report                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/tv-channels-dominate-as-news-source-despite-poor-trust-levels-csds-survey.html"
                       title="TV channels dominate as news source, despite poor trust levels: CSDS survey">
                        TV channels dominate as news source, despite poor trust levels: CSDS survey                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/good-news-editorial-on-print-media-remaining-the-most-trusted-source-of-information.html"
                       title="Good news: Editorial on print media remaining the most trusted source of information">
                        Good news: Editorial on print media remaining the most trusted source of information                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/bridging-the-gender-digital-divide-to-get-women-into-the-workforce-soma-wadhwa.html"
                       title="Bridging the gender digital divide to get women into the workforce -Soma Wadhwa">
                        Bridging the gender digital divide to get women into the workforce -Soma Wadhwa                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/digital-news-to-be-regulated-in-amended-law-in-a-first-sunil-prabhu.html"
                       title="Digital News To Be Regulated In Amended Law In A First -Sunil Prabhu">
                        Digital News To Be Regulated In Amended Law In A First -Sunil Prabhu                    </a>
                </li>
                
        </ul>
    </div>
    <div class="comment-respond" id="respond">
    <a name="commentbox">&nbsp;</a>
    <h3 class="comment-reply-title" id="reply-title">Write Comments</h3>
    <form method="post" accept-charset="utf-8" role="form" action="/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html"><div style="display:none;"><input type="hidden" name="_method" value="POST"/></div>    <form class="comment-form" id="commentform" method="post" action="#commentbox" onSubmit="return validate()"
          name="cmtform">
        <input type="hidden" name="cmttype" value="articlecmt"/>
        <input type="hidden" name="article_id" value="30266"/>
        <p class="comment-notes">Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked <span
                    class="required">*</span></p>
                <p class="comment-form-author">
            <label for="commenterName">Name</label>
            <span class="required">*</span>
            <input type="text" aria-required="true" size="30"
                   value=""
                   name="commenterName" id="commenterName" required="true">
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-email">
            <label for="commenterEmail">Email</label> <span class="required">*</span>
            <input aria-required="true" size="30" name="commenterEmail" id="commenterEmail" type="email"
                   value=""
                   required="true">
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-contact">
            <label for="commenterPh">Contact No.</label>
            <input type="text" size="30"
                   value=""
                   name="commenterPh" id="commenterPh">
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-comment">
            <label for="comment">Comment</label>
            <textarea aria-required="true" required="true" rows="8" cols="45" name="comment"
                      id="comment"></textarea>
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-comment">
            <label for="comment">Type the characters you see in the image below <span class="required">*</span><br><img
                        class="captchaImg"
                        src="https://im4change.in/securimage_show_art.php?tk=1292167289" alt="captcha"/>
            </label>
        </p>
        <input type="text" name="vrcode" required="true"/>

        <p class="form-submit" style="width: 200px;">
            <input type="submit" value="Post Comment" id="submit" name="submit">
        </p></form>
</div>
<style>
    .ui-widget-content {
        height: auto !important;
    }
</style>
<div id="share-modal"></div>
<style>
    .middleContent a{
        background-color: rgba(108,172,228,.2);
    }
    .middleContent a:hover{
        background-color: #418fde;
        border-color: #418fde;
        color: #000;
        }
</style>
<script>
    function shareArticle(article_id) {
        var options = {
            modal: true,
            height: 'auto',
            width: 600 + 'px'
        };
        $('#share-modal').html("");
        $('#share-modal').load('https://im4change.in/share_article?article_id=' + article_id).dialog(options).dialog('open');
    }

    function postShare() {
        var param = 'article_id=' + $("#article_id").val();
        param = param + '&y_name=' + $("#y_name").val();
        param = param + '&y_email=' + $("#y_email").val();
        param = param + '&f_name=' + $("#f_name").val();
        param = param + '&f_email=' + $("#f_email").val();
        param = param + '&y_msg=' + $("#y_msg").val();

        $.ajax({
            type: "POST",
            url: 'https://im4change.in/post_share_article',
            data: param,
            success: function (response) {
                $('#share-modal').html("Thank You, Your message posted to ");
            }
        });
        return false;
    }
</script>                </div>
            </div>
            <!-- Right Side Section Start -->
<!-- MAP Section START -->
<aside class="sidebar indexMarg">
    <div class="ad-cell">
        <a href="https://im4change.in/statemap.php" title="">
            <img src="https://im4change.in/images/map_new_version.png?1582080666" alt="India State Map" class="indiamap" width="232" height="252"/>        </a>
        <div class="rightmapbox">
            <div id="sideOne" class="docltitle"><a href="https://im4change.in/state-report/india/36" target="_blank">DOCUMENTS/
                    REPORTS</a></div>
            <div id="sideTwo" class="statetitle"><a href="https://im4change.in/states.php"target="_blank">STATE DATA/
                    HDRs.</a></div>
        </div>
        <div class="widget widgePadTop"></div>
    </div>
</aside>
<!-- MAP Section END -->
<aside class="sidebar sidePadbottom">
    <div class="rightsmlbox1" >
        <a href="https://im4change.in/knowledge_gateway" target="_blank" style="color: #035588;
    font-size: 17px;">
            KNOWLEDGE GATEWAY
        </a>
    </div>
    <div class="rightsmlbox1">

        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title">
                <a href="https://im4change.in/newsletter" target="_blank">
                    NEWSLETTER
                </a>
            </p>
        </div>
    </div>
        <div class="rightsmlbox1" style="height: 325px;">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title">
                Interview with Prof. Ravi Srivastava
            </p>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title">
                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/interview-with-prof-ravi-srivastava-on-current-economic-crisis">
                <img width="250" height="200" src="/images/interview_video_home.jpg" alt="Interview with Prof. Ravi Srivastava"/>
                </a>
                <!--
                <iframe width="250" height="200" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MmaTlntk-wc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>-->
               
            </p>
            <a href="https://im4change.in/videogallery" class="more-link CatArchalAnch1" target="_blank">
                                More videos
                            </a>
        </div>
    </div>
    
        <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <!--div id="sstory" class="rightboxicons"></div--->
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a href="https://im4change.in/list-success-stories"  target="_blank">Success Stories</a></p>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a
                        href="https://im4change.in/interviews"  target="_blank">Interviews</a>
            </p>
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a href="https://www.commoncause.in/page.php?id=10" >Donate</a></p>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a
        href="https://im4change.in/marquee"
        class="isf_link more-link" title="India Focus?" style="border: 4px solid #fdd922;width: 90%;background-color: #fdd922;text-align: center;color: #000000;font-size:18px"  target="_blank">India Focus</a></p>        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="rightsmlbox1" style="height: 104px !important;">
        <a href="https://im4change.in/quarterly_reports.php" target="_blank">
            Quarterly Reports on Effect of Economic Slowdown on Employment in India (2008 - 2015)
        </a>
    </div>
    
<!--     <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.im4.im4change" target="_blank">
            
        </a></div> -->
    <!-- <section class="cat-box recent-box secMarg">
        <h2 class="cat-box-title">Most Visited</h2>
    </section> -->
    <!-- accordion Starts here -->
    <!-- <div id="accordion" class="accordMarg">
            </div> -->
    <!-- accordion ends here -->
    <!-- Widget Tag Cloud Starts here -->
    <div id="tag_cloud-2" class="widget widget_tag_cloud">
        <section class="cat-box recent-box secMarg">
                <h2 class="cat-box-title">MOST VISITED TAGS</h2>
            </section>
        <div class="widget-top wiPdTp">
           
            <div class="stripe-line"></div>
        </div>
        <div class="widget-container">
            <div class="tagcloud">
                                    <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Agriculture"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Agriculture</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Food Security"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Food Security</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Law and Justice"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Law and Justice</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Health"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Health</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Right to Food"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Right to Food</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Corruption"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Corruption</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=farming"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">farming</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Environment"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Environment</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Right to Information"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Right to Information</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=NREGS"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">NREGS</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Human Rights"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Human Rights</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Governance"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Governance</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PDS"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PDS</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=COVID-19"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">COVID-19</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Land Acquisition"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Land Acquisition</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=mgnrega"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">mgnrega</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Farmers"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Farmers</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=transparency"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">transparency</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Gender"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Gender</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Poverty"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Poverty</a>
                                    
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Farm Laws" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Farm Laws
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Citizenship Amendment Act" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Citizenship Amendment Act
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=CAA NPR NRIC" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">CAA NPR NRIC
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Job Losses" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Job Losses
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Migrant Workers" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Migrant Workers
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Unemployment" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Unemployment
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PMGKAY" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PMGKAY
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PM-KISAN" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PM-KISAN
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PM-CARES" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PM-CARES
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=LFPR" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">LFPR
                </a>
                
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <!-- Widget Tag Cloud Ends here -->
</aside>
<!-- Right Side Section End -->
        </div>
        <section class="cat-box cats-review-box footerSec">
    <h2 class="cat-box-title vSec CatArcha">Video
        Archives</h2>
    <h2 class="cat-box-title CatArchaTitle">Archives</h2>
    <div class="cat-box-content">
        <div class="reviews-cat">
            <div class="CatArchaDiv1">
                <div class="CatArchaDiv2">
                    <ul>
                                                    <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/moving-upstream-luni-fellowship.html"  target="_blank">
                                     Moving Upstream: Luni – Fellowship                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/135-million-indians-exited-multidimensional-poverty-as-per-government-figures-is-that-the-same-as-poverty-reduction.html"  target="_blank">
                                     135 Million Indians Exited “Multidimensional" Poverty as per Government...                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/explainer-why-are-tomato-prices-on-fire.html"  target="_blank">
                                     Explainer: Why are Tomato Prices on Fire?                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/nsso-survey-only-39-1-of-all-households-have-drinking-water-within-dwelling-46-7-of-rural-households-use-firewood-for-cooking.html"  target="_blank">
                                     NSSO Survey: Only 39.1% of all Households have Drinking...                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                    <li class="CatArchalLi1">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57"
                               class="more-link CatArchalAnch1"  target="_blank">
                                More...
                            </a>
                        </li>
                    </ul>
                </div>
                                    <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/I51LYnP8BOk/1.jpg"
                             alt=" Im4Change.org हिंदी वेबसाइट का परिचय. Short Video on im4change.org...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Short-Video-on-im4change-Hindi-website-Inclusive-Media-for-Change"  target="_blank">
                                 Im4Change.org हिंदी वेबसाइट का परिचय. Short Video on im4change.org...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                                        <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/kNqha-SwfIY/1.jpg"
                             alt=" "Session 1: Scope of IDEA and AgriStack" in Exploring...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Session-1- Scope-of-IDEA-and-AgriStack-in-Exploring-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-29-April-2022"  target="_blank">
                                 "Session 1: Scope of IDEA and AgriStack" in Exploring...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                                        <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/6kIVjlgZItk/1.jpg"
                             alt=" "Session 2: Farmer Centric Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Session-2-Farmer-Centric-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-in-Exploring-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-29-April-2022"  target="_blank">
                                 "Session 2: Farmer Centric Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                                        <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/2BeHTu0y7xc/1.jpg"
                             alt=" "Session 3: Future of Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Session-3-Future-of-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-in-Exploring-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-29-April-2022"  target="_blank">
                                 "Session 3: Future of Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                    


                <div class="divWidth">
                    <ul class="divWidthMarg">
                                                    <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Public-Spending-on-Agriculture-in-India-Source-Foundation-for-Agrarian-Studies"
                                   title="Public Spending on Agriculture in India (Source: Foundation for Agrarian Studies)"  target="_blank">
                                     Public Spending on Agriculture in India (Source: Foundation for...</a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Agrarian-Change-Seminar-Protests-against-the-New-Farm-Laws-in-India-by-Prof-Vikas-Rawal-JNU-Source-Journal-Of-Agrarian-Change"
                                   title="Agrarian Change Seminar: 'Protests against the New Farm Laws in India' by Prof. Vikas Rawal, JNU (Source: Journal Of Agrarian Change) "  target="_blank">
                                     Agrarian Change Seminar: 'Protests against the New Farm Laws...</a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Webinar-Ramrao-The-Story-of-India-Farm-Crisis-Source-Azim-Premji-University"
                                   title="Webinar: Ramrao - The Story of India's Farm Crisis (Source: Azim Premji University)"  target="_blank">
                                     Webinar: Ramrao - The Story of India's Farm Crisis...</a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/water-and-agricultural-transformation-in-India"
                                   title="Water and Agricultural Transformation in India: A Symbiotic Relationship (Source: IGIDR)"  target="_blank">
                                     Water and Agricultural Transformation in India: A Symbiotic Relationship...</a>
                            </li>
                                                    <li class="CatArchalLi1">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/videogallery"
                               class="more-link CatArchalAnch1"  target="_blank">
                                More...
                            </a>
                        </li>
                    </ul>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</section>    </div>
    <div class="clear"></div>
    <!-- Footer option Starts here -->
    <div class="footer-bottom fade-in animated4">
        <div class="container">
            <div class="social-icons icon_flat">
                <p class="SocialMargTop"> Website Developed by <a target="_blank" title="Web Development"
                                                                  class="wot right"
                                                                  href="http://www.ravinderkhurana.com/" rel="nofollow">
                                                                  RAVINDErkHURANA.com</a></p>
            </div>
            <div class="alignleft">
                <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/objectives-8.html"
    class="link"
    title="Objectives">Objectives</a> | <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/about-us-9.html"
    class="link" title="About Us">About Us</a> | <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/media-workshops.php"
    class="ucwords">Workshops</a> | <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/disclaimer/disclaimer-149.html"
    title="Disclaimer">Disclaimer</a>            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <!-- Footer option ends here -->
</div>
<div id="connect">
    <a target="_blank"
       href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html"
       title="Share on Facebook">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/Facebook.png?1582080640" alt="share on Facebook" class="ImgBorder"/>
    </a><br/>
    <a target="_blank"
       href="http://twitter.com/share?text=Im4change&amp;url=https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html"
       title="Share on Twitter">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/twitter.png?1582080632" alt="Twitter" class="ImgBorder"/>    </a>
    <br/>
    <a href="/feeds" title="RSS Feed" target="_blank">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/rss.png?1582080632" alt="RSS" class="ImgBorder"/>
    </a>
    <br/>
    <a class="feedback-link" id="feedbackFormLink" href="#">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/feedback.png?1582080630" alt="Feedback" class="ImgBorder"/>
    </a> <br/>
    <a href="javascript:function iprl5(){var d=document,z=d.createElement('scr'+'ipt'),b=d.body,l=d.location;try{if(!b)throw(0);d.title='(Saving...) '+d.title;z.setAttribute('src',l.protocol+'//www.instapaper.com/j/WKrH3R7ORD5p?u='+encodeURIComponent(l.href)+'&amp;t='+(new Date().getTime()));b.appendChild(z);}catch(e){alert('Please wait until the page has loaded.');}}iprl5();void(0)"
       class="bookmarklet" onclick="return explain_bookmarklet();">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/read-it-later.png?1582080632" alt="Read Later" class="ImgBorder"/>    </a>
</div>
<!-- Feedback form Starts here -->
<div id="feedbackForm" class="overlay_form" class="ImgBorder">
    <h2>Contact Form</h2>
    <div id="contactform1">
        <div id="formleft">
            <form id="submitform" action="/contactus.php" method="post">
                <input type="hidden" name="submitform" value="submitform"/>
                <input type="hidden" name="salt_key" value="a0e0f2c6a0644a70e57ad2c96829709a"/>
                <input type="hidden" name="ref" value="feedback"/>
                <fieldset>
                    <label>Name :</label>
                    <input type="text" name="name" class="tbox" required/>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    <label>Email :</label>
                    <input type="text" name="email" class="tbox" required/>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    <label>Message :</label>
                    <textarea rows="5" cols="20" name="message" required></textarea>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    Please enter security code
                    <div class="clear"></div>
                    <input type="text" name="vrcode" class="tbox"/>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    <input type="submit" class="button" value="Submit"/>
                    &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#" id="closefeedbakcformLink">Close</a>
                </fieldset>
            </form>
        </div>
        <div class="clearfix"></div>
    </div>
</div>
<div id="donate_popup" class="modal" style="max-width: 800px;">
    <table width="100%" border="1">
        <tr>
            <td colspan="2" align="center">
                <b>Support im4change</b>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td width="25%" valign="middle">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo2.jpg?1582080632" alt="" width="100%"/>            </td>
            <td style="padding-left:10px;padding-top:10px;">
                <form action="https://im4change.in/donate" method="get">
                    <table width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
                        <tr>
                            <td width="33%" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                10
                            </td>
                            <td width="33%" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                100
                            </td>
                            <td width="33%" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                1000
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td colspan="3">
                                &nbsp;
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td  style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                50
                            </td>
                            <td  style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                500
                            </td>
                            <td  style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                <input type="text" name="price" placeholder="?" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td colspan="3">
                                &nbsp;
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td colspan="3" align="right">
                                <input type="button" name="Pay" value="Pay"
                                       style="width: 200px;background-color: rgb(205, 35, 36);color: #ffffff;"/>
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                    </table>
                </form>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div><script type='text/javascript'>

    /* <![CDATA[ */

    var tievar = {'go_to': 'Go to...'};

    /* ]]> */

</script>
<script src="/js/tie-scripts.js?1575549704"></script><script src="/js/bootstrap.js?1575549704"></script><script src="/js/jquery.modal.min.js?1578284310"></script><script>
    $(document).ready(function() {
        // tell the autocomplete function to get its data from our php script
        $('#s').autocomplete({
            source: "/autocomplete"
        });
    });
</script>
<script src="/vj-main-sw-register.js" async></script>

<script>function init(){var imgDefer=document.getElementsByTagName('img');for(var i=0;i<imgDefer.length;i++){if(imgDefer[i].getAttribute('data-src')){imgDefer[i].setAttribute('src',imgDefer[i].getAttribute('data-src'))}}}
window.onload=init;</script>
</body>
</html>'

}
$reasonPhrase = 'OK'
header - [internal], line ??
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emitStatusLine() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 54
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Code Context
                    $value

                ), $first);

                $first = false;
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html>
<!--[if lt IE 7 ]>
<html class="ie ie6" lang='en'> <![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 7 ]>
<html class="ie ie7" lang='en'> <![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 8 ]>
<html class="ie ie8" lang='en'> <![endif]-->
<!--[if (gte IE 9)|!(IE)]><!-->
<html lang='en'>
<!--<![endif]-->
<head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
    
    <title>
        LATEST NEWS UPDATES | What Free Basics did not intend to do -Parminder Jeet Singh    </title>
    <meta name="description" content="
-The Hindu

The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation.

In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the..."/>
    <meta name="keywords" content="Digital Freedom,Digital Media,Digital Divide,Access to Internet,Free Basics,Net Neutrality"/>
    <meta name="news_keywords" content="Digital Freedom,Digital Media,Digital Divide,Access to Internet,Free Basics,Net Neutrality">
   
    <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="ROR" href="/ror.xml"/>
    <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS 2.0" href="/feeds/"/>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/bootstrap.min.css?1697864993"/>    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css?v=1.1.2"/>    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style-inner.css?1577045210"/>    <link rel="stylesheet" id="Oswald-css"
          href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Oswald%3Aregular%2C700&amp;ver=3.8.1" type="text/css"
          media="all">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/jquery.modal.min.css?1578285302"/>    <script src="/js/jquery-1.10.2.js?1575549704"></script>    <script src="/js/jquery-migrate.min.js?1575549704"></script>    <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" title="Favicon">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/jquery-ui.css?1580720609"/>    <script src="/js/jquery-ui.js?1575549704"></script>    <link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/custom.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/jquery.modal.min.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/jquery-ui.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/li-scroller.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">
<!-- <link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/style.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous"> -->
<link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://www.im4change.org/css/style-inner.css" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'" media="all" crossorigin="anonymous">

<link rel='dns-prefetch' href="//im4change.org/css/custom.css" crossorigin >

<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/bootstrap.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery.li-scroller.1.0.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery.modal.min.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery.ui.totop.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery-1.10.2.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery-migrate.min.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/jquery-ui.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/setting.js">
<link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://www.im4change.org/js/tie-scripts.js">
    <!--[if IE]>
    <script type="text/javascript">jQuery(document).ready(function () {
        jQuery(".menu-item").has("ul").children("a").attr("aria-haspopup", "true");
    });</script>
    <![endif]-->
    <!--[if lt IE 9]>
    <script src="/js/html5.js"></script>
    <script src="/js/selectivizr-min.js"></script>
    <![endif]-->
    <!--[if IE 8]>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="/css/ie8.css"/>
    <![endif]-->
    <meta property="og:title" content="LATEST NEWS UPDATES | What Free Basics did not intend to do -Parminder Jeet Singh" />
     <meta property="og:url" content="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html" />
     <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
     <meta property="og:description" content="
-The Hindu

The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation.

In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the..." />
     <meta property="og:image" content="" />
      <meta property="fb:app_id" content="0" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no">

       <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="144x144" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple1.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="120x120" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple2.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="72x72" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple3.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="https://im4change.in/images/apple4.png">

    <style>
    .gsc-results-wrapper-overlay{
        top: 38% !important;
        height: 50% !important;
    }
    .gsc-search-button-v2{
        border-color: #035588 !important;
        background-color: #035588 !important;
    }

   .gsib_a{
        height: 30px !important;
          padding: 2px 8px 1px 6px !important;
    }

   
    .gsc-search-button-v2{
        height: 41px !important;
    }
    input.gsc-input{
        background: none !important;
    }
    @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {
        .gsc-results-wrapper-overlay{
            top: 11% !important;
            width: 87% !important;
            left: 9% !important;
            height: 43% !important;
        }

        .gsc-search-button-v2{
            padding: 10px 10px !important;
        
        }
        .gsc-input-box{
            height: 28px !important;
        }
       /* .gsib_a {
            padding: 0px 9px 4px 9px !important;
        }*/
    }
    @media only screen and (min-width: 1200px) and (max-width: 1920px) {
        table.gsc-search-box{
            width: 15% !important;
            float: right !important;
            margin-top: -118px !important;
        }

        .gsc-search-button-v2 {
            
            padding: 6px !important;
           
        }
    }


</style>

    <script>
        $(function () {
            $("#accordion").accordion({
                event: "click hoverintent"
            });
        });

        /*
         * hoverIntent | Copyright 2011 Brian Cherne
         * http://cherne.net/brian/resources/jquery.hoverIntent.html
         * modified by the jQuery UI team
         */
        $.event.special.hoverintent = {
            setup: function () {
                $(this).bind("mouseover", jQuery.event.special.hoverintent.handler);
            },
            teardown: function () {
                $(this).unbind("mouseover", jQuery.event.special.hoverintent.handler);
            },
            handler: function (event) {
                var currentX, currentY, timeout,
                    args = arguments,
                    target = $(event.target),
                    previousX = event.pageX,
                    previousY = event.pageY;

                function track(event) {
                    currentX = event.pageX;
                    currentY = event.pageY;
                }
                ;

                function clear() {
                    target
                        .unbind("mousemove", track)
                        .unbind("mouseout", clear);
                    clearTimeout(timeout);
                }

                function handler() {
                    var prop,
                        orig = event;
                    if ((Math.abs(previousX - currentX) +
                        Math.abs(previousY - currentY)) < 7) {
                        clear();
                        event = $.Event("hoverintent");
                        for (prop in orig) {
                            if (!(prop in event)) {
                                event[prop] = orig[prop];
                            }
                        }
                        // Prevent accessing the original event since the new event
                        // is fired asynchronously and the old event is no longer
                        // usable (#6028)
                        delete event.originalEvent;
                        target.trigger(event);
                    } else {
                        previousX = currentX;
                        previousY = currentY;
                        timeout = setTimeout(handler, 100);
                    }
                }

                timeout = setTimeout(handler, 100);
                target.bind({
                    mousemove: track,
                    mouseout: clear
                });
            }
        };
    </script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        var _gaq = _gaq || [];
        _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-472075-3']);
        _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);

        (function () {
            var ga = document.createElement('script');
            ga.type = 'text/javascript';
            ga.async = true;
            ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
            var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
            s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
        })();
    </script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/custom.css?v=1.16"/>    <script src="/js/jquery.ui.totop.js?1575549704"></script>    <script src="/js/setting.js?1575549704"></script>    <link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.json">
    <meta name="theme-color" content="#616163" />
    <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">
    <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black">
    <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" content="im4change">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/icons/logo-192x192.png">
</head>
<body id="top" class="home inner blog">
<div class="background-cover"></div>
<div class="wrapper animated">
    <header id="theme-header" class="header_inner" style="position: relative;">
        <div class="logo inner_logo" style="left:20px !important">
                <a title="Home" href="https://im4change.in/">
                    <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo2.jpg?1582080632" class="logo_image" alt="im4change"/>                </a>
        </div>
        <div class="langhindi" style="color: #000;display:none;"
             href="https://im4change.in/">
            <a class="more-link" href="https://im4change.in/">Home</a>
                        <a href="https://im4change.in/hindi/" class="langbutton ">हिन्दी</a>
                    </div>
        <nav class="fade-in animated2" id="main-nav">
            <div class="container">
                <div class="main-menu">
    <ul class="menu" id="menu-main">
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children"
            style="left: -40px;"><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/">Home</a>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item mega-menu menu-item-type-taxonomy mega-menu menu-item-object-category mega-menu menu-item-has-children parent-list"
            style=" margin-left: -40px;"><a href="#">KNOWLEDGE GATEWAY <span class="sub-indicator"></span>
            </a>
            <div class="mega-menu-block background_menu" style="padding-top:25px;">
                <div class="container">
                    <div class="mega-menu-content">
                                                                   <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Farm Crisis</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/farmers039-suicides-14.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Farm Suicides                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/unemployment-30.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Unemployment                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Rural distress                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Migration                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/key-facts-72.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Key Facts                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/debt-trap-15.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Debt Trap                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Empowerment</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/union-budget-73.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Union Budget And Other Economic Policies                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/forest-and-tribal-rights-61.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Forest and Tribal Rights                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-education-60.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Education                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-food-59.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Food                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/displacement-3279.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Displacement                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Work (MG-NREGA)                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/gender-3280.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">GENDER                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Right to Information                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Social Audit                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Hunger / HDI</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/poverty-and-inequality-20499.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Poverty and inequality                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/malnutrition-41.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Malnutrition                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/public-health-51.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Public Health                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/education-50.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Education                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Hunger Overview                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hdi-overview-45.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">HDI Overview                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/pds-ration-food-security-42.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">PDS/ Ration/ Food Security                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/sdgs-113.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">SDGs                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/mid-day-meal-scheme-mdms-53.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Environment</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/environment/time-bomb-ticking-52.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Time Bomb Ticking                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/environment/water-and-sanitation-55.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Water and Sanitation                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/environment/impact-on-agriculture-54.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Impact on Agriculture                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        <div class="mega-menu-item">
                                                 <h3><b>Law & Justice</b></h3>
                                                                                                    <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/social-justice-20500.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Social Justice                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/access-to-justice-47.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Access to Justice                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/human-rights-56.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Human Rights                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/corruption-35.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Corruption                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/general-insecurity-46.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">General Insecurity                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                        <p style="padding-left:5px;">
                                                    <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/law-justice/disaster-relief-49.html"
                                                       class="left postionrel">Disaster &amp; Relief                                                       </a>
                                                </p>
                                                                                                
                                              </div> 
                                            
                                                                                        
                    </div>
                </div>
            </div>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page "><a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/nceus_reports.php">NCEUS reports</a>
            
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children parent-list ">
            <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/about-us-9.html">About Us <span
                    class="sub-indicator"></span></a>
            <ul class="sub-menu aboutmenu">
                <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page"><a
                        target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/objectives-8.html">Objectives</a>
                </li>
                <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page"><a
                         target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/contactus.php">Contact
                        Us</a></li>
                <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-post_type  menu-item-object-page"><a
                         target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/about-us-9.html">About
                        Us</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children ">
            <a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/fellowships.php" title="Fellowships">Fellowships</a>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children  "><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/media-workshops.php">Workshops</a>
        </li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children  "><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/research.php">Research</a></li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children   "><a
                 target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/links-64">Partners</a></li>
        <li class="menu-item  menu-item-type-custom  menu-item-object-custom  menu-item-has-children"
            id="menu-item-539"><a  target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/hindi/"
                                  class="langbutton langlinkfont17">हिन्दी</a></li>
    </ul>
</div>            </div>


                        <!--  <div style="float: right;">
                            <script async src="https://cse.google.com/cse.js?cx=18b4f2e0f11bed3dd"></script>
                            <div class="gcse-search"></div>
                        </div> -->
                       
            <div class="search-block" style=" margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 7px;">
                <form method="get" id="searchform" name="searchform"
                      action="https://im4change.in/search"
                      onsubmit="return searchvalidate();">
                    <button class="search-button" type="submit" value="Search"></button>
                    <input type="text" id="s" name="qryStr" value=""
                           onfocus="if (this.value == 'Search...') {this.value = '';}"
                           onblur="if (this.value == '') {this.value = 'Search...';}">
                </form>
            </div>
        </nav>
    </header>
    <div class="container">
        <div id="main-content" class=" main1 container fade-in animated3 sidebar-narrow-left">
            <div class="content-wrap">
                <div class="content" style="width: 900px;min-height: 500px;">
                    <section class="cat-box recent-box innerCatRecent">
    <h1 class="cat-box-title">What Free Basics did not intend to do -Parminder Jeet Singh</h1>
    <a href="JavaScript:void(0);" onclick="return shareArticle(30266);">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/email.png?1582080630" border="0" width="24" align="right" alt="Share this article"/>    </a>

    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326/print"
       rel="nofollow">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/icon-print.png?1582080630" border="0" width="24" align="right" alt="Share this article"/>
    </a>
</section>
<section class="recent-box innerCatRecent">
    <small class="pb-1"><span class="dateIcn">
    	<img src="https://im4change.in/images/published.svg?1582080666" alt="published"/> 
		 Published on</span><span class="text-date"> Jan 14, 2016</span>
        &nbsp; <span
                class="dateIcn">
		 	<img src="https://im4change.in/images/modified.svg?1582080666" alt="modified"/>    	 Modified on </span><span class="text-date"> Jan 14, 2016</span>
    </small>
</section>
<div class="clear"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 10px;">
    <div class="innerLineHeight">
        <div class="middleContent innerInput latest-news-updates">
            <table>
                <tr>
                    <td>
                                                <div>
                            <div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation.<br /></em><br />In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the Indian public. It must be regretting it now. The social networking service&rsquo;s reportedly Rs. 100-crore campaign, through double full-page newspaper advertisements, billboards and television, appears simply to have congealed public opinion against Free Basics. Everyone seems to be eager to discuss and write about what is wrong with Free Basics. When the regulator had last called for Net neutrality-related inputs, in May 2015, the opinions were relatively more divided. If they are so much more polarised today against Free Basics and Net neutrality violations, the manner in which Facebook pushed this campaign does bear some responsibility for it.<br /><br />Facebook&rsquo;s campaign may actually have ended up doing a lot of good to India, which, after all, was its professed goal. We must thank Facebook for that. These benefits have been on two explicit fronts, and one more which will become apparent in some time.<br /><br /><em>The Internet as a right <br /></em><br />First, the campaign forced everyone to respond to the question, &lsquo;can those in poverty be denied connectivity?&rsquo; The obvious answer being &lsquo;no&rsquo;, everyone had to come up with concrete alternatives. As a result, something interesting happened. Even with the current middle-class sentiment largely being pro-free markets and anti-government subsidies, a strong opinion has emerged that those who cannot afford connectivity must be provided some basic free connectivity as an entitlement to be ensured by the government. It can be in the form of a limited data package. Many commentators as well as responses to the regulator&rsquo;s consultation have sought such an entitlement.<br /><br />This should make the regulator and the government think seriously about some such data entitlement for every citizen. It could also have an impact on how connectivity through the government&rsquo;s National Optical Fibre Network will be provided to the people. This network, connecting almost the whole of rural India, is expected to be in place within the next two-four years. Such emerging public opinion in favour of free basic connectivity, if concretised into public policy, will be the first true expression of the Internet as a right, a concept which has begun to be discussed globally.<br /><br />The second unintended consequence of the Free Basics campaign has been a groundswell of public consciousness that now sees the Internet not just in pure market terms, but as a unique social phenomenon which requires special public interest regulation. The last round of Net neutrality consultation was the first heave in this direction, but it was still a bit tentative and immature. It is also much easier for people to see the logic for an Internet that treats all content equally, than develop a case against a free service. (Remember, free service is already the dominant Internet service model in application and content layers, a point which we will come to later.) That the Indian public could form a considered opinion on this rather complex social and policy issue is heartening to note. It is likely to usher a new era of Internet rights activism, with people claiming digital technologies as a right and not just something that the market provides on its own terms.<br /><br />At the many public interest discussions on this subject, people came up with ingenious analogies. One person said, &ldquo;I am ready to pay the auto driver according to the distance travelled, not based on the destination that I go to.&rdquo; Another said, &ldquo;Free Basics is like someone giving you cooking gas for free, but being able to decide what you will cook with it.&rdquo; There is an emergence of a very sophisticated orientation as to how people see the Internet in terms of its very crucial and strong role in society today, and its hidden manipulative possibilities.<br /><br />The cooking analogy is not a far-fetched one if one projects ahead into the emerging world of Internet of Things. The Internet can be seen as a new neutral system of society, one that organises our lives, which can become very dangerous if its manipulative potential is not closely watched and kept in check. There will always be corporatist tendencies to place &lsquo;control points&rsquo; on this neutral network, with various kinds of free services as the incentive, but which would lead to far greater economic and other forms of exploitation.<br /><br /><em>Neutrality in all layers<br /></em><br />This brings us to the third unintended consequence of the Facebook campaign. This is only being informally talked about as of now, but will break into prominence soon when other similar &lsquo;platform abuses&rsquo; come to the fore. This is about how Facebook used its monopoly social networking platform for a huge political campaign in its own favour, making and sharing lakhs (11 million, according to Facebook) of template responses to the regulator&rsquo;s consultation. The same platform functionality was not available to other users, who could be holding other views on the subject.<br /><br />The implications of such &lsquo;platform abuse&rsquo; are not difficult to see. Imagine a close election contest in the future when Facebook, say, has 70 per cent of adult Indians as its users. There are two main parties and, say, FDI or higher corporate taxes has become the key election issue. What if Facebook does a similar campaign two weeks before the elections, taking a strong position favouring one side, reaching and &lsquo;engaging&rsquo; its users in a manner that others cannot do using the same platform?<br /><br />The question then is, if a telco cannot be allowed to provide different functionalities on its platform to different content and application-providers, how can a monopoly social networking platform be allowed to discriminate among its users in such a blatant way and with such far-reaching social consequences? It is much easier to switch between telcos today than to even find a good alternative to the Facebook platform.<br /><br />Net neutrality and &lsquo;zero-rating&rsquo; are therefore just the first key Internet regulation issues that we are facing. As the Internet quickly transforms our social systems and becomes an essential element, there will soon be other kinds of &lsquo;platform neutrality&rsquo; issues.<br /><br />The EU is already conducting a public consultation on &lsquo;platform governance&rsquo;. The French Digital Council has brought out a comprehensive report on platform neutrality. A draft bill on Internet rights in the Italian legislature lays out public interest guidelines for platforms.<br /><br />The keen public engagement with the issue of Net neutrality and zero-rating indicates that we will soon hear about other kinds of platform abuses as well, along with calls for corresponding Internet regulation.<br /><em><br />(Parminder Jeet Singh works with the Bengaluru-based NGO, IT for Change. He has been an advisor to the Chair of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum. Email: parminder@itforchange.net) </em><br /></div>                                                           
                        </div>
                    </td>
                </tr>
            </table>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
    <br><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do/article8102897.ece?homepage=true" class="re" target="_blank">The Hindu, 14 January, 2016, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do/article8102897.ece?homepage=true</a><div class="clear"></div>
    <div style="padding-top: 18px;">
        <p class="post-tag">Tagged with:
                            <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Digital Freedom"
                   title="Digital Freedom">
                    Digital Freedom                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Digital Media"
                   title="Digital Media">
                    Digital Media                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Digital Divide"
                   title="Digital Divide">
                    Digital Divide                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Access to Internet"
                   title="Access to Internet">
                    Access to Internet                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Free Basics"
                   title="Free Basics">
                    Free Basics                </a>
                                <a class="tagcloud5"
                   href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Net Neutrality"
                   title="Net Neutrality">
                    Net Neutrality                </a>
                        </p>
    </div>
<div class="clear"></div>
    <br><br>
    <div class="widget-top">
        <h4>Related Articles</h4>
        <div class="stripe-line"></div>
    </div>
    <div class="widget-container">
        <ul id="recentcomments">
                            <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/digital-divide-tech-access-limited-to-male-urban-upper-caste-class-says-oxfam-report.html"
                       title="Digital Divide: Tech Access Limited to Male, Urban, Upper Caste & Class, Says Oxfam Report">
                        Digital Divide: Tech Access Limited to Male, Urban, Upper Caste & Class, Says Oxfam Report                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/tv-channels-dominate-as-news-source-despite-poor-trust-levels-csds-survey.html"
                       title="TV channels dominate as news source, despite poor trust levels: CSDS survey">
                        TV channels dominate as news source, despite poor trust levels: CSDS survey                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/good-news-editorial-on-print-media-remaining-the-most-trusted-source-of-information.html"
                       title="Good news: Editorial on print media remaining the most trusted source of information">
                        Good news: Editorial on print media remaining the most trusted source of information                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/bridging-the-gender-digital-divide-to-get-women-into-the-workforce-soma-wadhwa.html"
                       title="Bridging the gender digital divide to get women into the workforce -Soma Wadhwa">
                        Bridging the gender digital divide to get women into the workforce -Soma Wadhwa                    </a>
                </li>
                                <li class="recentcomments">
                    <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/digital-news-to-be-regulated-in-amended-law-in-a-first-sunil-prabhu.html"
                       title="Digital News To Be Regulated In Amended Law In A First -Sunil Prabhu">
                        Digital News To Be Regulated In Amended Law In A First -Sunil Prabhu                    </a>
                </li>
                
        </ul>
    </div>
    <div class="comment-respond" id="respond">
    <a name="commentbox">&nbsp;</a>
    <h3 class="comment-reply-title" id="reply-title">Write Comments</h3>
    <form method="post" accept-charset="utf-8" role="form" action="/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html"><div style="display:none;"><input type="hidden" name="_method" value="POST"/></div>    <form class="comment-form" id="commentform" method="post" action="#commentbox" onSubmit="return validate()"
          name="cmtform">
        <input type="hidden" name="cmttype" value="articlecmt"/>
        <input type="hidden" name="article_id" value="30266"/>
        <p class="comment-notes">Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked <span
                    class="required">*</span></p>
                <p class="comment-form-author">
            <label for="commenterName">Name</label>
            <span class="required">*</span>
            <input type="text" aria-required="true" size="30"
                   value=""
                   name="commenterName" id="commenterName" required="true">
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-email">
            <label for="commenterEmail">Email</label> <span class="required">*</span>
            <input aria-required="true" size="30" name="commenterEmail" id="commenterEmail" type="email"
                   value=""
                   required="true">
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-contact">
            <label for="commenterPh">Contact No.</label>
            <input type="text" size="30"
                   value=""
                   name="commenterPh" id="commenterPh">
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-comment">
            <label for="comment">Comment</label>
            <textarea aria-required="true" required="true" rows="8" cols="45" name="comment"
                      id="comment"></textarea>
        </p>
        <p class="comment-form-comment">
            <label for="comment">Type the characters you see in the image below <span class="required">*</span><br><img
                        class="captchaImg"
                        src="https://im4change.in/securimage_show_art.php?tk=1292167289" alt="captcha"/>
            </label>
        </p>
        <input type="text" name="vrcode" required="true"/>

        <p class="form-submit" style="width: 200px;">
            <input type="submit" value="Post Comment" id="submit" name="submit">
        </p></form>
</div>
<style>
    .ui-widget-content {
        height: auto !important;
    }
</style>
<div id="share-modal"></div>
<style>
    .middleContent a{
        background-color: rgba(108,172,228,.2);
    }
    .middleContent a:hover{
        background-color: #418fde;
        border-color: #418fde;
        color: #000;
        }
</style>
<script>
    function shareArticle(article_id) {
        var options = {
            modal: true,
            height: 'auto',
            width: 600 + 'px'
        };
        $('#share-modal').html("");
        $('#share-modal').load('https://im4change.in/share_article?article_id=' + article_id).dialog(options).dialog('open');
    }

    function postShare() {
        var param = 'article_id=' + $("#article_id").val();
        param = param + '&y_name=' + $("#y_name").val();
        param = param + '&y_email=' + $("#y_email").val();
        param = param + '&f_name=' + $("#f_name").val();
        param = param + '&f_email=' + $("#f_email").val();
        param = param + '&y_msg=' + $("#y_msg").val();

        $.ajax({
            type: "POST",
            url: 'https://im4change.in/post_share_article',
            data: param,
            success: function (response) {
                $('#share-modal').html("Thank You, Your message posted to ");
            }
        });
        return false;
    }
</script>                </div>
            </div>
            <!-- Right Side Section Start -->
<!-- MAP Section START -->
<aside class="sidebar indexMarg">
    <div class="ad-cell">
        <a href="https://im4change.in/statemap.php" title="">
            <img src="https://im4change.in/images/map_new_version.png?1582080666" alt="India State Map" class="indiamap" width="232" height="252"/>        </a>
        <div class="rightmapbox">
            <div id="sideOne" class="docltitle"><a href="https://im4change.in/state-report/india/36" target="_blank">DOCUMENTS/
                    REPORTS</a></div>
            <div id="sideTwo" class="statetitle"><a href="https://im4change.in/states.php"target="_blank">STATE DATA/
                    HDRs.</a></div>
        </div>
        <div class="widget widgePadTop"></div>
    </div>
</aside>
<!-- MAP Section END -->
<aside class="sidebar sidePadbottom">
    <div class="rightsmlbox1" >
        <a href="https://im4change.in/knowledge_gateway" target="_blank" style="color: #035588;
    font-size: 17px;">
            KNOWLEDGE GATEWAY
        </a>
    </div>
    <div class="rightsmlbox1">

        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title">
                <a href="https://im4change.in/newsletter" target="_blank">
                    NEWSLETTER
                </a>
            </p>
        </div>
    </div>
        <div class="rightsmlbox1" style="height: 325px;">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title">
                Interview with Prof. Ravi Srivastava
            </p>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title">
                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/interview-with-prof-ravi-srivastava-on-current-economic-crisis">
                <img width="250" height="200" src="/images/interview_video_home.jpg" alt="Interview with Prof. Ravi Srivastava"/>
                </a>
                <!--
                <iframe width="250" height="200" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MmaTlntk-wc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>-->
               
            </p>
            <a href="https://im4change.in/videogallery" class="more-link CatArchalAnch1" target="_blank">
                                More videos
                            </a>
        </div>
    </div>
    
        <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <!--div id="sstory" class="rightboxicons"></div--->
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a href="https://im4change.in/list-success-stories"  target="_blank">Success Stories</a></p>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a
                        href="https://im4change.in/interviews"  target="_blank">Interviews</a>
            </p>
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a href="https://www.commoncause.in/page.php?id=10" >Donate</a></p>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <div>
            <p class="rightsmlbox1_title"><a
        href="https://im4change.in/marquee"
        class="isf_link more-link" title="India Focus?" style="border: 4px solid #fdd922;width: 90%;background-color: #fdd922;text-align: center;color: #000000;font-size:18px"  target="_blank">India Focus</a></p>        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="rightsmlbox1" style="height: 104px !important;">
        <a href="https://im4change.in/quarterly_reports.php" target="_blank">
            Quarterly Reports on Effect of Economic Slowdown on Employment in India (2008 - 2015)
        </a>
    </div>
    
<!--     <div class="rightsmlbox1">
        <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.im4.im4change" target="_blank">
            
        </a></div> -->
    <!-- <section class="cat-box recent-box secMarg">
        <h2 class="cat-box-title">Most Visited</h2>
    </section> -->
    <!-- accordion Starts here -->
    <!-- <div id="accordion" class="accordMarg">
            </div> -->
    <!-- accordion ends here -->
    <!-- Widget Tag Cloud Starts here -->
    <div id="tag_cloud-2" class="widget widget_tag_cloud">
        <section class="cat-box recent-box secMarg">
                <h2 class="cat-box-title">MOST VISITED TAGS</h2>
            </section>
        <div class="widget-top wiPdTp">
           
            <div class="stripe-line"></div>
        </div>
        <div class="widget-container">
            <div class="tagcloud">
                                    <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Agriculture"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Agriculture</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Food Security"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Food Security</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Law and Justice"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Law and Justice</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Health"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Health</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Right to Food"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Right to Food</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Corruption"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Corruption</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=farming"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">farming</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Environment"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Environment</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Right to Information"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Right to Information</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=NREGS"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">NREGS</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Human Rights"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Human Rights</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Governance"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Governance</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PDS"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PDS</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=COVID-19"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">COVID-19</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Land Acquisition"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Land Acquisition</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=mgnrega"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">mgnrega</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Farmers"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Farmers</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=transparency"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">transparency</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Gender"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Gender</a>
                                        <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Poverty"
                       target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Poverty</a>
                                    
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Farm Laws" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Farm Laws
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Citizenship Amendment Act" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Citizenship Amendment Act
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=CAA NPR NRIC" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">CAA NPR NRIC
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Job Losses" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Job Losses
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Migrant Workers" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Migrant Workers
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=Unemployment" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">Unemployment
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PMGKAY" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PMGKAY
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PM-KISAN" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PM-KISAN
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=PM-CARES" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">PM-CARES
                </a>
                <a href="https://im4change.in/search?qryStr=LFPR" target="_blank" class="tag-link-4 font4">LFPR
                </a>
                
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <!-- Widget Tag Cloud Ends here -->
</aside>
<!-- Right Side Section End -->
        </div>
        <section class="cat-box cats-review-box footerSec">
    <h2 class="cat-box-title vSec CatArcha">Video
        Archives</h2>
    <h2 class="cat-box-title CatArchaTitle">Archives</h2>
    <div class="cat-box-content">
        <div class="reviews-cat">
            <div class="CatArchaDiv1">
                <div class="CatArchaDiv2">
                    <ul>
                                                    <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/moving-upstream-luni-fellowship.html"  target="_blank">
                                     Moving Upstream: Luni – Fellowship                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/135-million-indians-exited-multidimensional-poverty-as-per-government-figures-is-that-the-same-as-poverty-reduction.html"  target="_blank">
                                     135 Million Indians Exited “Multidimensional" Poverty as per Government...                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/explainer-why-are-tomato-prices-on-fire.html"  target="_blank">
                                     Explainer: Why are Tomato Prices on Fire?                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57/nsso-survey-only-39-1-of-all-households-have-drinking-water-within-dwelling-46-7-of-rural-households-use-firewood-for-cooking.html"  target="_blank">
                                     NSSO Survey: Only 39.1% of all Households have Drinking...                                </a>
                            </li>
                                                    <li class="CatArchalLi1">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts-57"
                               class="more-link CatArchalAnch1"  target="_blank">
                                More...
                            </a>
                        </li>
                    </ul>
                </div>
                                    <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/I51LYnP8BOk/1.jpg"
                             alt=" Im4Change.org हिंदी वेबसाइट का परिचय. Short Video on im4change.org...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Short-Video-on-im4change-Hindi-website-Inclusive-Media-for-Change"  target="_blank">
                                 Im4Change.org हिंदी वेबसाइट का परिचय. Short Video on im4change.org...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                                        <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/kNqha-SwfIY/1.jpg"
                             alt=" "Session 1: Scope of IDEA and AgriStack" in Exploring...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Session-1- Scope-of-IDEA-and-AgriStack-in-Exploring-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-29-April-2022"  target="_blank">
                                 "Session 1: Scope of IDEA and AgriStack" in Exploring...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                                        <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/6kIVjlgZItk/1.jpg"
                             alt=" "Session 2: Farmer Centric Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Session-2-Farmer-Centric-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-in-Exploring-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-29-April-2022"  target="_blank">
                                 "Session 2: Farmer Centric Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                                        <div class="CatArchaWidth">
                        <img class="CatArchaImg"
                             src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/2BeHTu0y7xc/1.jpg"
                             alt=" "Session 3: Future of Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...">
                        <p class="CatArchaPPad">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Session-3-Future-of-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-in-Exploring-Digitalisation-in-Agriculture-29-April-2022"  target="_blank">
                                 "Session 3: Future of Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...                            </a>
                        </p>
                    </div>
                    


                <div class="divWidth">
                    <ul class="divWidthMarg">
                                                    <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Public-Spending-on-Agriculture-in-India-Source-Foundation-for-Agrarian-Studies"
                                   title="Public Spending on Agriculture in India (Source: Foundation for Agrarian Studies)"  target="_blank">
                                     Public Spending on Agriculture in India (Source: Foundation for...</a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Agrarian-Change-Seminar-Protests-against-the-New-Farm-Laws-in-India-by-Prof-Vikas-Rawal-JNU-Source-Journal-Of-Agrarian-Change"
                                   title="Agrarian Change Seminar: 'Protests against the New Farm Laws in India' by Prof. Vikas Rawal, JNU (Source: Journal Of Agrarian Change) "  target="_blank">
                                     Agrarian Change Seminar: 'Protests against the New Farm Laws...</a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/Webinar-Ramrao-The-Story-of-India-Farm-Crisis-Source-Azim-Premji-University"
                                   title="Webinar: Ramrao - The Story of India's Farm Crisis (Source: Azim Premji University)"  target="_blank">
                                     Webinar: Ramrao - The Story of India's Farm Crisis...</a>
                            </li>
                                                        <li>
                                <a href="https://im4change.in/video/water-and-agricultural-transformation-in-India"
                                   title="Water and Agricultural Transformation in India: A Symbiotic Relationship (Source: IGIDR)"  target="_blank">
                                     Water and Agricultural Transformation in India: A Symbiotic Relationship...</a>
                            </li>
                                                    <li class="CatArchalLi1">
                            <a href="https://im4change.in/videogallery"
                               class="more-link CatArchalAnch1"  target="_blank">
                                More...
                            </a>
                        </li>
                    </ul>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</section>    </div>
    <div class="clear"></div>
    <!-- Footer option Starts here -->
    <div class="footer-bottom fade-in animated4">
        <div class="container">
            <div class="social-icons icon_flat">
                <p class="SocialMargTop"> Website Developed by <a target="_blank" title="Web Development"
                                                                  class="wot right"
                                                                  href="http://www.ravinderkhurana.com/" rel="nofollow">
                                                                  RAVINDErkHURANA.com</a></p>
            </div>
            <div class="alignleft">
                <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/objectives-8.html"
    class="link"
    title="Objectives">Objectives</a> | <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/about-us-9.html"
    class="link" title="About Us">About Us</a> | <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/media-workshops.php"
    class="ucwords">Workshops</a> | <a
     target="_blank" href="https://im4change.in/disclaimer/disclaimer-149.html"
    title="Disclaimer">Disclaimer</a>            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <!-- Footer option ends here -->
</div>
<div id="connect">
    <a target="_blank"
       href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html"
       title="Share on Facebook">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/Facebook.png?1582080640" alt="share on Facebook" class="ImgBorder"/>
    </a><br/>
    <a target="_blank"
       href="http://twitter.com/share?text=Im4change&amp;url=https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do-parminder-jeet-singh-4678326.html"
       title="Share on Twitter">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/twitter.png?1582080632" alt="Twitter" class="ImgBorder"/>    </a>
    <br/>
    <a href="/feeds" title="RSS Feed" target="_blank">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/rss.png?1582080632" alt="RSS" class="ImgBorder"/>
    </a>
    <br/>
    <a class="feedback-link" id="feedbackFormLink" href="#">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/feedback.png?1582080630" alt="Feedback" class="ImgBorder"/>
    </a> <br/>
    <a href="javascript:function iprl5(){var d=document,z=d.createElement('scr'+'ipt'),b=d.body,l=d.location;try{if(!b)throw(0);d.title='(Saving...) '+d.title;z.setAttribute('src',l.protocol+'//www.instapaper.com/j/WKrH3R7ORD5p?u='+encodeURIComponent(l.href)+'&amp;t='+(new Date().getTime()));b.appendChild(z);}catch(e){alert('Please wait until the page has loaded.');}}iprl5();void(0)"
       class="bookmarklet" onclick="return explain_bookmarklet();">
        <img src="https://im4change.in/images/read-it-later.png?1582080632" alt="Read Later" class="ImgBorder"/>    </a>
</div>
<!-- Feedback form Starts here -->
<div id="feedbackForm" class="overlay_form" class="ImgBorder">
    <h2>Contact Form</h2>
    <div id="contactform1">
        <div id="formleft">
            <form id="submitform" action="/contactus.php" method="post">
                <input type="hidden" name="submitform" value="submitform"/>
                <input type="hidden" name="salt_key" value="a0e0f2c6a0644a70e57ad2c96829709a"/>
                <input type="hidden" name="ref" value="feedback"/>
                <fieldset>
                    <label>Name :</label>
                    <input type="text" name="name" class="tbox" required/>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    <label>Email :</label>
                    <input type="text" name="email" class="tbox" required/>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    <label>Message :</label>
                    <textarea rows="5" cols="20" name="message" required></textarea>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    Please enter security code
                    <div class="clear"></div>
                    <input type="text" name="vrcode" class="tbox"/>
                </fieldset>
                <fieldset>
                    <input type="submit" class="button" value="Submit"/>
                    &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#" id="closefeedbakcformLink">Close</a>
                </fieldset>
            </form>
        </div>
        <div class="clearfix"></div>
    </div>
</div>
<div id="donate_popup" class="modal" style="max-width: 800px;">
    <table width="100%" border="1">
        <tr>
            <td colspan="2" align="center">
                <b>Support im4change</b>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td width="25%" valign="middle">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo2.jpg?1582080632" alt="" width="100%"/>            </td>
            <td style="padding-left:10px;padding-top:10px;">
                <form action="https://im4change.in/donate" method="get">
                    <table width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
                        <tr>
                            <td width="33%" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                10
                            </td>
                            <td width="33%" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                100
                            </td>
                            <td width="33%" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                1000
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td colspan="3">
                                &nbsp;
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td  style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                50
                            </td>
                            <td  style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                500
                            </td>
                            <td  style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                                <input type="text" name="price" placeholder="?" style="font-family: 'Script Font', cursive, Arial;font-size: 20px;font-weight: 700;">
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td colspan="3">
                                &nbsp;
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td colspan="3" align="right">
                                <input type="button" name="Pay" value="Pay"
                                       style="width: 200px;background-color: rgb(205, 35, 36);color: #ffffff;"/>
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                    </table>
                </form>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div><script type='text/javascript'>

    /* <![CDATA[ */

    var tievar = {'go_to': 'Go to...'};

    /* ]]> */

</script>
<script src="/js/tie-scripts.js?1575549704"></script><script src="/js/bootstrap.js?1575549704"></script><script src="/js/jquery.modal.min.js?1578284310"></script><script>
    $(document).ready(function() {
        // tell the autocomplete function to get its data from our php script
        $('#s').autocomplete({
            source: "/autocomplete"
        });
    });
</script>
<script src="/vj-main-sw-register.js" async></script>

<script>function init(){var imgDefer=document.getElementsByTagName('img');for(var i=0;i<imgDefer.length;i++){if(imgDefer[i].getAttribute('data-src')){imgDefer[i].setAttribute('src',imgDefer[i].getAttribute('data-src'))}}}
window.onload=init;</script>
</body>
</html>'

}
$cookies = []
$values = [
	(int) 0 => 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'
]
$name = 'Content-Type'
$first = true
$value = 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'
header - [internal], line ??
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emitHeaders() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 55
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Home हिन्दी

What Free Basics did not intend to do -Parminder Jeet Singh

Published on Jan 14, 2016   Modified on Jan 14, 2016

-The Hindu The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation. In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the Indian public. It must be regretting it now. The social networking service’s reportedly Rs. 100-crore campaign, through double full-page newspaper advertisements, billboards and television, appears simply to have congealed public opinion against Free Basics. Everyone seems to be eager to discuss and write about what is wrong with Free Basics. When the regulator had last called for Net neutrality-related inputs, in May 2015, the opinions were relatively more divided. If they are so much more polarised today against Free Basics and Net neutrality violations, the manner in which Facebook pushed this campaign does bear some responsibility for it. Facebook’s campaign may actually have ended up doing a lot of good to India, which, after all, was its professed goal. We must thank Facebook for that. These benefits have been on two explicit fronts, and one more which will become apparent in some time. The Internet as a right First, the campaign forced everyone to respond to the question, ‘can those in poverty be denied connectivity?’ The obvious answer being ‘no’, everyone had to come up with concrete alternatives. As a result, something interesting happened. Even with the current middle-class sentiment largely being pro-free markets and anti-government subsidies, a strong opinion has emerged that those who cannot afford connectivity must be provided some basic free connectivity as an entitlement to be ensured by the government. It can be in the form of a limited data package. Many commentators as well as responses to the regulator’s consultation have sought such an entitlement. This should make the regulator and the government think seriously about some such data entitlement for every citizen. It could also have an impact on how connectivity through the government’s National Optical Fibre Network will be provided to the people. This network, connecting almost the whole of rural India, is expected to be in place within the next two-four years. Such emerging public opinion in favour of free basic connectivity, if concretised into public policy, will be the first true expression of the Internet as a right, a concept which has begun to be discussed globally. The second unintended consequence of the Free Basics campaign has been a groundswell of public consciousness that now sees the Internet not just in pure market terms, but as a unique social phenomenon which requires special public interest regulation. The last round of Net neutrality consultation was the first heave in this direction, but it was still a bit tentative and immature. It is also much easier for people to see the logic for an Internet that treats all content equally, than develop a case against a free service. (Remember, free service is already the dominant Internet service model in application and content layers, a point which we will come to later.) That the Indian public could form a considered opinion on this rather complex social and policy issue is heartening to note. It is likely to usher a new era of Internet rights activism, with people claiming digital technologies as a right and not just something that the market provides on its own terms. At the many public interest discussions on this subject, people came up with ingenious analogies. One person said, “I am ready to pay the auto driver according to the distance travelled, not based on the destination that I go to.” Another said, “Free Basics is like someone giving you cooking gas for free, but being able to decide what you will cook with it.” There is an emergence of a very sophisticated orientation as to how people see the Internet in terms of its very crucial and strong role in society today, and its hidden manipulative possibilities. The cooking analogy is not a far-fetched one if one projects ahead into the emerging world of Internet of Things. The Internet can be seen as a new neutral system of society, one that organises our lives, which can become very dangerous if its manipulative potential is not closely watched and kept in check. There will always be corporatist tendencies to place ‘control points’ on this neutral network, with various kinds of free services as the incentive, but which would lead to far greater economic and other forms of exploitation. Neutrality in all layers This brings us to the third unintended consequence of the Facebook campaign. This is only being informally talked about as of now, but will break into prominence soon when other similar ‘platform abuses’ come to the fore. This is about how Facebook used its monopoly social networking platform for a huge political campaign in its own favour, making and sharing lakhs (11 million, according to Facebook) of template responses to the regulator’s consultation. The same platform functionality was not available to other users, who could be holding other views on the subject. The implications of such ‘platform abuse’ are not difficult to see. Imagine a close election contest in the future when Facebook, say, has 70 per cent of adult Indians as its users. There are two main parties and, say, FDI or higher corporate taxes has become the key election issue. What if Facebook does a similar campaign two weeks before the elections, taking a strong position favouring one side, reaching and ‘engaging’ its users in a manner that others cannot do using the same platform? The question then is, if a telco cannot be allowed to provide different functionalities on its platform to different content and application-providers, how can a monopoly social networking platform be allowed to discriminate among its users in such a blatant way and with such far-reaching social consequences? It is much easier to switch between telcos today than to even find a good alternative to the Facebook platform. Net neutrality and ‘zero-rating’ are therefore just the first key Internet regulation issues that we are facing. As the Internet quickly transforms our social systems and becomes an essential element, there will soon be other kinds of ‘platform neutrality’ issues. The EU is already conducting a public consultation on ‘platform governance’. The French Digital Council has brought out a comprehensive report on platform neutrality. A draft bill on Internet rights in the Italian legislature lays out public interest guidelines for platforms. The keen public engagement with the issue of Net neutrality and zero-rating indicates that we will soon hear about other kinds of platform abuses as well, along with calls for corresponding Internet regulation. (Parminder Jeet Singh works with the Bengaluru-based NGO, IT for Change. He has been an advisor to the Chair of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum. Email: parminder@itforchange.net)

The Hindu, 14 January, 2016, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/what-free-basics-did-not-intend-to-do/article8102897.ece?homepage=true

Tagged with: Digital Freedom Digital Media Digital Divide Access to Internet Free Basics Net Neutrality

Related Articles

• Digital Divide: Tech Access Limited to Male, Urban, Upper Caste & Class, Says Oxfam Report
• TV channels dominate as news source, despite poor trust levels: CSDS survey
• Good news: Editorial on print media remaining the most trusted source of information
• Bridging the gender digital divide to get women into the workforce -Soma Wadhwa
• Digital News To Be Regulated In Amended Law In A First -Sunil Prabhu

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email *

Contact No.

Comment

Type the characters you see in the image below *

Video Archives

Archives

• Moving Upstream: Luni – Fellowship
• 135 Million Indians Exited “Multidimensional" Poverty as per Government...
• Explainer: Why are Tomato Prices on Fire?
• NSSO Survey: Only 39.1% of all Households have Drinking...
• More...

Im4Change.org हिंदी वेबसाइट का परिचय. Short Video on im4change.org...

"Session 1: Scope of IDEA and AgriStack" in Exploring...

"Session 2: Farmer Centric Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...

"Session 3: Future of Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...

• Public Spending on Agriculture in India (Source: Foundation for...
• Agrarian Change Seminar: 'Protests against the New Farm Laws...
• Webinar: Ramrao - The Story of India's Farm Crisis...
• Water and Agricultural Transformation in India: A Symbiotic Relationship...
• More...

Website Developed by RAVINDErkHURANA.com

Objectives | About Us | Workshops | Disclaimer

Support im4change
	10 100 1000   50 500