Facebook apologises to India

San Fransisco: Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described as “deeply upsetting” company official Marc Andreessen's offensive remarks on India. Writing on Facebook, Zuckerberg said the comments do not represent what he or the social network thinks of India.

"I want to respond to Marc Andreessen's comments about India yesterday. I found the comments deeply upsetting, and they do not represent the way Facebook or I think at all," Zuckerberg wrote on Wednesday. "India has been personally important to me and Facebook.

Early on in my thinking about our mission, I traveled to India and was inspired by the humanity, spirit and values of the people. It solidified my understanding that when all people have the power to share their experiences, the entire world will make progress," he said. The reaction came not long after Andreessen deleted the offensive remarks made on Twitter and apologised.

Free Basics shut down

Social networking giant Facebook on Thursday pulled the plug on its controversy-ridden 'Free Basics' programme in India, days after telecom regulator Trai barred operators from charging discriminatory rates for Internet access based on content. "Free Basics is no longer available to people in India," a Facebook spokesperson said.

Andreessen, a Facebook board member, had tweeted on Tuesday, "Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades. Why stop now?" He was reacting after India's telecom regulator, TRAI, ruled in favour of Net Neutrality and banned differential pricing for Internet data content.

The biggest impact of the decision was on Facebook which will now not be able to continue its free Internet scheme, Free Basics. Andreessen's tweet invited criticism on Twitter and he later deleted the remarks. But angry reactions continued to pour in and the Facebook official was forced to apologise on Twitter."