Facebook to bring its internet.org free-limited access to Pakistan?

Facebook is apparently all set to launch its “internet.org” in Pakistan in collaboration with local telecom partner, Telenor, reported ProPakistani.

At an event planned for Thursday, where the official announcement of the launch is expected to be made, officials from both organisations will reveal their future plans regarding internet.org in Pakistan.

Internet.org is a global initiative by Facebook where selected websites are made available to users for free. It has been developed with the basic aim at developing markets where devices and data rates are beyond the reach of commoners.

After the launch of internet.org, Pakistan will become the seventh country to have this facility, while the service is expected to reach at least 100 countries by the end of next year.

The social media giant, after partnering with different telecom companies and content providers, would make certain selected websites available free of cost to their consumers.

It was also revealed that the Facebook’s contract arrangement will not be exclusive in nature, hence other operators will also be allowed to join the program.

Under the program, customers are expected to get access to as many as 20 website for free.

The internet.org programme, however, has been criticised by the internet activists for its partiality and violation of net neutrality as only certain sites, including Facebook, while charging for rest of the sites. The also blame that the program is either intentionally or unintentionally "killing the rest of internet" as only selected content on the internet will be promoted, which can be dangerous in the long run since not everyone can become part of the program.

Though any publisher can apply to become part of internet.org program, but not everyone’s application is accepted as they have to follow certain rules/guidelines which might even mean compromising on the quality of their content.

The article originally appeared on ProPakistani.pk