PM Narendra Modi, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad with Sri Lankan PM

NEW DELHI: The government said on Thursday that Facebook and other social media giants cannot have exclusive access to programmes under the Digital India policy, insisting that “walled gardens cannot be allowed”.

“India does not believe in exclusivity. When you talk about digital inclusion, we also mean internet inclusion, we also mean internet democracy ,” IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told TOI on the sidelines of the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS).

The minister’s views assume significance in the wake of efforts by Facebook earlier to push the company’s ‘Free Basics’ connectivity programme in India and other countries. India had shot down the proposal, saying it provided access to only a host of websites and services, while excluding the broader internet from its purview.

Prasad said India will not allow exclusivity when it comes to providing internet connectivity across the country, including in rural areas. “We are completely opposed to any kind of exclusivity as far as access is concerned.”

He said India does not believe in any kind of negotiations when it comes to open access. “Our view is very clear. Internet access is not negotiable (and) no exclusive gate or walls will be allowed. The platform has to be inter-operable.”

The government has been pushing a massive digital outreach programme across the country, spending Rs 35,000 crore to provide direct optic-fiber connectivity across 2.5 lakh panchayats. While one lakh panchayats have already been connected, the government hopes to connect the remaining by March 2019.

Through this connectivity, it is now inviting private firms — telecom operators and app makers — to help drive internet usage. Telecom operators like Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Jio have already jumped into the bandwagon, while application makers such as Facebook are also seriously looking into the outreach programme.

Prasad said “no free ticket” can be given to any company when it comes to such outreach programmes. He said the government’s own initiatives, such as Aadhaar and digital locker, are also among programmes that will be used to drive internet penetration.

“What is Aadhaar? It’s like an Indian company which is doing six crore authentications per day free-of-cost. The digital locker is also free-of-cost. These are low-cost technologies, and India is showing the way.”

Facebook has been saying that it wants to take initiatives to ‘connect the unconnected’ in India as it looks at increasing the spread of internet across the country. It has said that more efforts and programmes are required particularly in remote areas. The company’s ‘Free Basics’ programme was asked to be pulled down by the government in 2016.

Talks with 3 countries on cyber cooperation: India on Thursday held talks for internet and cyber programmes with three countries. IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad held talks with ministers from Denmark, Mauritius and Iran over a host of digital issues. Mauritius was keen to replicate the government’s digital locker programme, while Iran and Denmark were interested in ICT initiatives.

