Net neutrality and digital discrimination

The advent of internet has made our lives easier so much so that the internet has become an indispensable part of our day-to-day life. There are a multitude of web-based applications including social media platforms like facebook and twitter. The concept of e-governance is based on the applications of internet technology, wherein the government is committed to providing faster and efficient delivery of services. One of the booming sectors involving online platform is that of e-marketing which is a revolutionary development in the area of trade and commerce.

Of late, concerns have been raised over the methodology of provision of internet  services to the people. Recently, Bharti Airtel had announced its decision to charge its customers for making calls through the Skype platform. Later the mobile operator back-tracked from its earlier decision pending operational guidelines from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI). Similarly, the social media giant Facebook collaborated with Reliance communication to launch an online platform ‘internet.org’.

A fundamental principle governing internet use is ‘net neutrality’. It fundamentally guarantees that all data on the internet should be treated equally and there should be no digital discrimination. However, the decision by the mobile operators to charge the users violates the principle of net-neutrality. It is because certain websites become costly or operate faster as compared to other web portals.

Such discriminatory policies shuts the door for entrepreneurial aspirations of millions. The potential job creators would face undue disadvantage in furthering their ambitions as they do not get a level playing field in the area of internet services. Moreover, a cartel of big and influencing corporates could distort market forces by adopting monopolistic business practices.

Internet penetration in India is very low as only 20 percent of the population do have access to the internet. On the contrary, countries like Brazil and China have succeeded in providing basic internet services to almost half of the population. At a time, when India is in dire need of uninterrupted internet services to grow at a decent economic pace, the violation of net neutrality does not augur well for the nation.