India’s telecom regulator accuses Facebook of running an 'orchestrated opinion poll' for Free Basics

Facebook’s campaign to introduce the Free Basics platform in India continues to sink deeper into troubled waters. A week after it questioned Facebook’s claim of having 11 million Free Basics supporters, the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) has written a stinging criticism of the company’s lobbying campaign to garner support the platform that claims to give free 'Internet' access to millions of Indians.

In response to TRAI’s consultation process on whether telecom carriers could have different pricing plans for different kinds of content, Facebook had run a multi-million dollar advertising campaign to garner support for its Free Basics service across billboards, newspapers, television and the Internet. Read more...