Facebook为印度穷人提供免费网络引争议

New Delhi — The last time Prime Minister NarendraModi visited the United States, he stood with Hugh “Wolverine Jackman and declared, for somereason, “May the force be with you. This month, when he meets the Facebook co-founder MarkZuckerberg in Menlo Park, Calif., Indians hope their leader won’t yell, “Don’t be evil.

新德里——印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪(Narendra Modi)上一次访问美国时曾和“金刚狼休·杰克曼(HughJackman)同台，出于某种原因，他说了一句“愿原力与你同在。本月，当他和Facebook创始人马克·扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)在加州的门洛帕克市见面时，印度民众希望自己的领导人别喊出“不作恶来。

But if he does end up shouting Google’s motto in Facebook’s headquarters, some Indianswould be pleased. For that is what they wish to tell Facebook.

但如果他最后真的在Facebook总部说出这句谷歌(Google)格言，有一部分印度人会比较高兴。因为这正是他们想对Facebook说的。

Mr. Modi wants every Indian to get online, and Mr. Zuckerberg has figured out a way to do this.But the Modi government has been under pressure from the minority of Indians whoconsume most of the nation’s bandwidth to pass legislation that would deny free Internetaccess to the poor.

莫迪想让所有印度人都用上网络，扎克伯格想到了一个实现的方法。但莫迪政府受到来自少数印度民众的压力，这些人享用着印度大部分带宽，却想要通过一项不给穷人提供上网途径的法案。

In February, Facebook and its partners introduced Internet.org in India, a diminished but freeInternet for the more than 100 million mobile subscribers of Reliance Communications. Morethan 75 percent of Indians do not use or have access to the Internet, but almost every Indianhas a mobile phone. So, millions of Indians now have access, in seven languages, to dozens ofwebsites and applications, including BBC News, Wikipedia and, of course, Facebook.

今年2月，Facebook及其合作伙伴将Internet.org引入了印度，它可以让印度信实通信公司(RelianceCommunications)的1亿手机用户享受到不完整但却完全免费的网络。超过75%印度人不上网或没有上网途径，但他们几乎人手一部手机。所以，现在有数百万印度人可以浏览几十种网站和应用，包括BBC资讯、Wikipedia，当然还有Facebook，这些服务有七种语言可以选择。

Internet.org would not have drawn much rage if not for something else that was going on.Weeks after the initiative emerged, an Indian telecom operator tried to introduce a service thatwould make it free or cheap or faster for people to gain access to some applications that have acommercial agreement with the operator.

如果不是因为还有一些其他的事，Internet.org不会引起太多怨愤。这一计划推出几周后，一家印度通信运营商试图引入一项服务，可以让人们免费或以更低的价格或更快的速度下载一些与该运营商有商业协议的应用。

There is a global movement against strategies that corrupt the open nature of the Internet,and Indians joined the lament. The movement ended up including Internet for the poor amongthe offending telecom strategies. This was a flawed, principled stand. And it fit well in thehistory of the Indian elite deploying ideology to the detriment of the poor — central planninginstead of a market economy, a focus on higher education over primary education and rocketscience over virology.

目前全球在进行一场运动，反对破坏互联网开放属性的策略，印度也加入了控诉的一方。这场运动最终把为穷人提供网络列为不合理的电信策略。这是一个有缺陷的、坚持原则的立场。它与印度精英阶层宣传对穷人不利的意识形态的历史一脉相承，这些人强调中央计划，而非市场经济;重视高等教育大过基础教育;重视火箭科学大过病毒研究。

Mr. Zuckerberg has been at pains to tell Indians that his offer of free Internet to the poor doesnot violate any ethics. Facebook does not charge for any application that wishes to be onInternet.org, and it does not post ads on the Facebook pages of the users. Also, the companydoes not pay Reliance to provide the free service. Mr. Zuckerberg has said that any telecomoperator would be allowed to carry Internet.org. A Facebook spokesman told me, “We areactively in discussions with other mobile phone operators in India.

扎克伯格一直在竭力让印度人明白，他给贫穷阶层提供的免费网络服务并不违反任何道德准则。Facebook不向任何希望出现在Internet.org上的应用收费，不在用户的Facebook页面上发广告。而且，Facebook也不为信实通信公司提供的免费网络服务买单。扎克伯格已经表示，任何通信运营商都可以为其用户提供Internet.org的免费应用。一位Facebook发言人告诉我，“我正在积极地和印度的其他手机运营商进行商谈。

He said that “more than 40 percent of those coming online via Internet.org are so intoxicatedby the idea of connectivity that they soon pay the telecom operator for data and enjoy the fullexpanse of online life. So, the telecom operator has commercial rewards in offering anexceptional social service. It is an idea that can transform India.

他表示，通过Internet.org免费应用接触到网络后，有“超过40%的人都非常沉醉于联网的感觉，会很快给通信运营商付费购买流量，以享受完整的网络乐趣。所以，通信运营商在提供一项杰出的社会服务的同时，也可以获得商业回报。这是一个可以改变印度面貌的观念。

The elite Indian condemnation of Internet for the poor is cloaked in righteous objections. Forinstance, that it is “restrictive, thereby violating the fundamental spirit of the web. ButInternet.org is limited because data is expensive, not because it promotes some websites overothers. In fact, it is paid Internet that is restrictive because it denies the web to those whocannot pay.

印度精英阶层反对为贫穷阶层提供网络，有一些表面看似正当的理由。比如，他们指责它是“限制性的，因此违反互联网的基本精神。但Internet.org之所以有所限制，是因为数据太昂贵，而不是为优先推广某些网站。事实上，真正有限制的是付费互联网，因为它们把不能付费的人挡在了门外。

Another objection is that the poor would think Facebook is the Internet as many in othernations do. But then in India “xerox is a verb that means photocopying, and many think theInternet is an American company. If the whole world were surveyed, it would come across asgenerally ill informed. Many are ignorant because they never had the opportunities, like beingconnected, to be informed.

他们反对的另一个理由是，印度贫穷阶层会和其他国家的许多人一样，认为Facebook就代表互联网。但在印度，“xerox只是意为“复印的动词，不代表施乐公司，还有很多人认为“互联网就是一个美国公司。如果在全球进行问卷调查，印度人会给人以孤陋寡闻的印象。很多人那么无知，是因为他们没有机会接触网络等获取新知的途径。

Also, there is a view that free Internet is just a ploy by Facebook to capture new markets. Thehistory of modern India is proof that corporate self-interest is often more useful to societythan altruism.

还有一种观点认为，网络只是Facebook为了占领新市场而策划的阴谋。现代印度发展的历史证明，企业的自利往往比利他主义对社会更有益。

Mr. Modi, instead of banishing Internet.org, may consider uploading government websites on it.Facebook is discussing that possibility with his team.

莫迪可能会把印度政府网站放在Internet.org上，而不是驱逐它。Facebook正和他的团队就这一可能进行讨论。