“I forgot who said that, but what is clear to me is that this free but limited Internet is not really helping Filipinos, especially in terms of receiving information. This is why I think it should be stopped. Yes, it helps Internet users save money, but the service creates confusion.” Samar 1st District Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento told reporters on Friday.
“As I understand the Facebook free data, users can enjoy free use of Facebook such as Messenger. But once a news report appears in the news feed, users can only view the headline, and not the entire content. And because a lot of headlines trigger anger, users immediately react without understanding the full details of the news.” He added.
“It is also unfair for some websites that cannot be accessed because of the limited service. Therefore, Facebook is discriminating other Internet services while earning more money because users are more inclined to use them instead of spending money for the full service of the Internet. And sad to say, telcos agree with Facebook.” Sarmiento noted.
“In terms of news reports, free data users have no way of verifying them if they are real or not simply because of the limited service. The tendency is to share fake news assuming that they are real.” The lawmaker said further, noting that he is now preparing a draft for his bill to ban free data, and may soon present it to the House of Representatives.
And although Rep. Sarmiento did not mention the term Net Neutrality, Internet experts assume that he is referring to it. In this principle, Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet the same, and should not discriminate or charge differentially. This is the same reason why Facebook free data is ban in India.
Contributed by Renato Pasayao
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