COMPREHENSIVE CASES

Zuckerberg always framed his Internet.org initiative as a non- profit and humanitarian aid type of mission, but scathing remarks and criticisms were raised against his statement that connectivity was a basic human right.26 Critics called his initiative venture humanitarianism and Facebook’s gateway drug. Even Bill Gates, Zuckerberg’s mentor, commented on this initiative, “Hmm, which is more important, connectivity or malaria vaccine? If you think connectivity is the key thing, that’s great. I don’t.”27

All along, Zuckerberg had reiterated that Internet.org was not meant to make money immediately. “Traditional businesses would view people using your service that you don’t make money from as a cost.”28 But he had wanted this initiative to become profitable in the long run. He himself acknowledged, “There are good exam- ples of companies—Coca-Cola is one—that invested before there was a huge market in countries, and I think that ended up playing out to their benefit for decades to come. I do think something like

More so, Facebook focused its approach toward India because it was blocked in China. However, in India, the low penetration of the Internet and low average revenue per user (ARPU) did pose a challenge to Facebook. Zuckerberg made efforts to explore his options in India. Ultimately, he wanted to improve Facebook’s revenue and increase the number of Facebook users, which would increase its ARPU from the Asian region.22 Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB23 International found that availability of regional language content in India would boost Internet growth by 24 percent in rural areas; Facebook executives claimed that India was a “brutally localized”24 country.25

22Khan Aarzu, “Mark Zuckerberg’s Visit to India Has a Hidden Agenda for Facebook Inc. (FB)!” http://www.dazeinfo.com/2014/10/10/mark- zuckerbergs-visit-india-hidden-agenda-facebook-inc-fb/, October 10, 2014. 23IMRB International is one of the premier sources for market research and consultancy services throughout South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. 24Lev Grossman, “The Man Who Wired the World,” http://time.com/facebook- world-plan/, December 15, 2014. 25Prasant Naidu, “Not Just for Facebook but Internet.org Makes Business Sense for India Too,” http://lighthouseinsights.in/not-just-for-facebook-but- Internet-org-makes-business-sense-for-india-too.html/, October 10, 2014.

26“The Man Who Wired the World,” op. cit. 27Ibid. 28Ibid.

Summary of health impacts of extending internet penetration by region

Africa

Nearly 1M 160,000 775,000 460,000

25,000

160,000

85,000

200,000

6,000

130,000

130,000

2.2M

General health (Lives saved)

Child Mortality (Infants saved)

Increase in the rate of growth of GDP

Increase in annual GDP per capita

Additional jobs

Decrease in extreme poverty

HIV/AIDS (Patients live longer)

Latin America

Indian South and East Asia

Africa Latin America

Indian South and East Asia

Summary of economic impacts of extending internet penetration by region

92% 37% 110% 75%

$630$500$630$450

44M 5M 65M 27M

–16%–28%–13%–30%

EXHIBIT IV Impact of Internet Connectivity Across the Globe

Source: “Value of Connectivity,” https://Internet.org/press/value-of-connectivity, February 23, 2014.

 

https://Internet.org/press/value-of-connectivity

http://lighthouseinsights.in/not-just-for-facebook-but-Internet-org-makes-business-sense-for-india-too.html/

http://lighthouseinsights.in/not-just-for-facebook-but-Internet-org-makes-business-sense-for-india-too.html/

http://time.com/facebook-world-plan/

http://time.com/facebook-world-plan/

http://www.dazeinfo.com/2014/10/10/mark-zuckerbergs-visit-india-hidden-agenda-facebook-inc-fb/

http://www.dazeinfo.com/2014/10/10/mark-zuckerbergs-visit-india-hidden-agenda-facebook-inc-fb/