A reputation is a hard thing to shake. Like when a UN moderator introduces Mark Zuckerberg by commenting that he is almost unrecognizable without his hoodie. Zuckerberg hasn’t worn a hoodie in nearly three years. In fact, he was looking remarkably comfortable in his suit at the UN last weekend as he joined a group of speakers from global NGOs.
Zuckerberg had come to the United Nations to advocate for universal Internet access. Speaking to a body of heads of state and UN delegates, he made an impassioned plea that the Internet is a key enabler of human rights. “Insuring access is essential to achieving global justice and opportunity,” he said.
He made the speech on the day he partnered with Bono, the rockstar founder of the advocacy group ONE, to publish a connectivity declaration, which calls on global leaders to prioritize Internet access. The pair penned an op-ed for the New York Times in which they announced their intentions to start a global movement. Dozens of people have signed it already, including Richard Branson and Bill and Melinda Gates.
Zuckerberg wants the world to understand that Internet access should be a basic human right, like access to healthcare or water. Secondarily, he wants people to understand that Facebook’s role in this effort is driven primarily by his deep social conviction that such connectivity is the best way to alleviate poverty. “Research shows that when you give people access to the Internet, one in ten people is lifted from poverty,” he said.
That may be true, but Facebook has recently had a hard time selling people on its role in furthering that connectivity after a global backlash against its Internet.org program that began in India last April. Several Indian web publishers pulled out of parts of Internet.org, which lets some publishers offer pared-down versions of services to users free through a Facebook-built app. They worried that Facebook was conspiring with mobile carriers to determine which websites qualified for inclusion. They said this violated the principles of net neutrality—the idea Internet providers should treat all online service the same. The criticism gained momentum in May when nearly 70 advocacy groups released a letter to Zuckerberg protesting Internet.org, arguing it violated net neutrality principles and stirred security concerns.
Facebook has now responded by changing the name of its app and mobile web site to Free Basics, in order to distance it from the larger Internet.org initiative and by opening its platform so that any developer can launch services from it. And it has focused on better communicating with the Indian tech community. But a defensive-sounding post from August on the Internet.org website labeled “Myths and Facts” makes clear the criticism Facebook is receiving is striking a chord. (Example: MYTH: Facebook has launched Internet.org to help drive its own growth and revenue opportunities within developing countries.) Despite Facebook’s efforts, as Wired wrote on Friday, the criticism continues. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg has invested significant time this year in talking to world leaders from Panama to Indonesia about the company’s connectivity efforts.
Read More At: http://www.wired.com/2015/09/zuckerberg-to-un-internet-belongs-to-everyone/
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