Facebook opens internet.org platform to developers

On Monday, Facebook opened its internet.org platform for developers days after several partners in India pulled out fearing concerns that it had violated net neutrality concerns. While internet activists said that the project violated the principles of 'net neutrality' by favouring some websites free overs others, founder Mark Zuckerberg said that it was impossible to have a free internet.

"It costs tens of billions of dollars every year to run the internet, and no operator could afford this if everything were free," he said in a video released on the Internet.org website.

Internet.org, now available in Colombia, Guatemala, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Philippines, Indonesia, and Ghana besides India, was released here with the help of Reliance. Reliance subscribers till now would have been able to access partner websites free of cost. By making it an open platform, any developer will be able to register if it completes three important criteria.

The first criteria is that the website should not require high-bandwidth. "Services should not use VoIP, video, file transfer, high resolution photos, or high volume of photos," read the guidelines. Second, these websites should be available on smartphones with milited capability. "Websites must be properly integrated with Internet.org to allow zero rating and therefore can't require JavaScript or SSL/TLS/HTTPS and must meet these technical guidelines," said the rules. The third criteria is that the website should allow for more people to be on the internet. "Services should encourage the exploration of the broader internet wherever possible," said the rules.