Highlights
- Facebook board member's pro-colonialism tweet faces severe backlash
- Marc Andreessen was reacting to TRAI verdict on net neutrality in India
- Facing criticism, Marc Andreessen later deleted the tweet
Facebook board member Marc Andreessen has been pummeled for a tweet that appears to say that Indians should have embraced colonialism. He has deleted the tweet.
Mr Andreessen, a well-known Silicon Valley venture capitalist, was weighing in on India banning differential pricing for internet data content, a decision that strikes down Facebook's free internet scheme fronted by founder Mark Zuckerberg.
"Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades. Why stop now?" he tweeted.
Bombarded by outraged reactions, Mr Andreessen deleted the tweet. A screenshot, however, is in wide circulation.Mr Andreessen offered a sort of an apology.
On Monday, telecom regulator TRAI backed net neutrality and banned differential pricing for data, which means no content can be offered at discounted rates.
Facebook said in a statement: "While disappointed with the outcome, we will continue our efforts to eliminate barriers and give the unconnected an easier path to the internet."
Free Basics has been described by Mark Zuckerberg as a way of bringing the internet to millions of Indians in rural India. In partnership with Reliance Telecom, the scheme, which piloted in a few states, allowed users to access - at no charge- Facebook's own social network and messaging services, along with the content of its partners.
TRAI suspended Free Basics a few weeks ago, arguing that it violates the principle of net neutrality, the concept that all websites on the internet are treated equally.