Zuckerberg Reiterates Support For Net Neutrality, Bats

When asked if Facebook supports net neutrality, an issue of intense debate in the country, Zuckerberg said, absolutely, we do a lot to support net neutrality. In terms of regulation, countries are figuring out what rules they want and we are supportive of that, he added.

He said providing free internet to everyone in the globe is expensive and telecom operators spend billions each year bringing internet to users. “What we are really trying to do is to use Free Basics so that any developer who can give low bandwidth services for free can be zero-rated. That has been powerful, and provides a neutral platform without any filters.”

However, if a telecom operator, tries to press its own services on the users and it hurts people, then we need net neutrality, Zuckerberg said.

Zero-rating is the concept of providing users access to only a pre-approved set of websites, not the full internet. Facebook’s Internet.org, now renamed as Free Basics, operates on the same principle.

He concluded the subject saying, “We have a moral responsibility to look out for those who do not have access to the internet.”