“Facebook alone won’t do anything for us.” What rural Indians think about Free Basics

Over the last few months, the activism against Facebook’s free internet in India has been called “elitist” and “self-righteous.” An opinion piece in The New York Times, for instance, called the opposition “elite Indian condemnation of internet for the poor.”

Most voices that have come out in criticism of Free Basics—which provides free but limited internet access to Reliance Communications’ subscribers in India—were of venture capitalists and technology entrepreneurs, who are unlikely to be the direct beneficiaries of the service.

Now, Khabar Lahariya— a weekly newspaper run and published by women in multiple languages—has released a video and an audio clip that give some insights into how some rural women view the service. And, according to them, Free Basics is a harmless but ultimately unimpressive product.

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