Indians are wary of Mark Zuckerberg's free Internet

The highly touted “town hall” encounter between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in Menlo Park (CA) on Sept 27 turned out to be a predictable affair, even after the famously macho Indian leader choked up talking about his poor upbringing. Adding to the scripted feel of the event at Facebook headquarters was the first question posed to Modi, from Vir Kashyap, co-founder of Babajob.com. The relatively obscure job-search website is a partner of Internet.org, Zuckerberg’s initiative to bring free Internet service to impoverished Indians.

That Babajob.com -- and not a more established player -- got such exposure added to the grumbling about Internet.org, which many Indian analysts and tech industry leaders say is an attempt by Zuckerberg’s behemoth company to corral unsuspecting users into a Facebook-controlled cage on the edge of the World Wide Web. At first blush, Internet.org hardly sounds like a nefarious project: extending Internet access to those who’ve never had it or can’t afford it, in part by offering limited packages of Internet service free of charge, and without ads. But the initiative has sparked more controversy than Zuckerberg expected.