Zero-Rating Platform and Net Neutrality: A Platform Study of Facebook’s Free Basics Platform New Media and Digital Culture MA Thesis Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Stefania Milan Second Reader: Prof. Dr. Richard Rogers Author: Afra Suci Ramadhon Student Number : 11127708 University of Amsterdam 24 June 2016 Abstract In 2014, Facebook, an online networking service corporation, launched a platform named Internet.org (later changed to Free Basics) to bridge the digital divide. The Internet.org aims to provide internet connections for two-thirds of the world’s population. The platform implements a practice known as a zero-rating. The zero- rating refers to a practice enacted by internet service providers (ISPs) to give free access to particular online content and services. The Free Basics and zero-rating practices have triggered global debates on the net neutrality and the open internet. The proponents of zero-rating believe that the implementation of zero-rating is a response to competitions among ISPs and a way to accelerate the diffusion of internet. The opponents consider zero-rating practices violates the principle of net neutrality and open internet. The implementation of zero rating has influenced discussions surrounding the internet governance. The Free Basics platform is the major global player in the zero-rating practices (available in more than 30 countries). This platform indicates a contentious cooperation between Facebook and internet service providers. The cooperation has redefined the discussion of net neutrality and determined the direction of internet regulation. This study aims to investigate how the Free Basics functions and arranges its service and how it influences the discourse of net neutrality. To analyze what technical affordances and constraints underpin the configuration, this research engages with the platform studies approach. The ongoing debates of zero-rating and net neutrality often overlook the technical and the underlying design of a particular practice of zero-rating. This research employs platform studies method with additional insights from the ethnography of infrastructure approach to carry out participant observation, content analysis and semi-structured interviews. Since Free Basics only operates in the designated countries, this study takes the implementation of Free Basics in Indonesia as the case study. The findings show the configuration of Free Basics from the analysis of front-end and back-end parts. The platform does not fully perform a zero-rating practice due to the restrictions applied. The arrangement of Free Basics reflects that there is no ultimate freedom for the users within the zero- rating practice. From the back-end part, the Free Basics repurposes a virtual private network (VPN) mechanism to deliver zero-rated internet access. I argue that to provide a zero-rated internet service, an interruption to the network is inevitable. Henceforth, it is evident that the implementation of Free Basics and other zero-rating models incline to undermine the principle of net neutrality. However, not all actors involved in the internet governance agree with the principle of net neutrality. Keywords: zero-rating, net neutrality, Free Basics, platform studies, Facebook, internet governance Word count: 24,879 2 1 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 5 1 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................ 9 1.1 The Zero-Rating Models Implementation ............................................................... 9 1.2 Zero-Rating and Zero-Sum Game of Internet Access ......................................... 12 1.3 Net Neutrality is Not Neutral ..................................................................................... 16 1.4 Facebook’s Internet.org and A Piece of The Internet ........................................ 22 1.5 Facebook and The Power in the Network ............................................................. 29 2 RESEARCH DESIGN .................................................................................................. 33 2.1 Indonesia as The Free Basics’ Case Study ............................................................. 34 2.2 Platform Studies and The Ethnography of Infrastructure ............................... 35 2.3 Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 37 2.3.1 Participant Observation ...................................................................................................... 38 2.3.2 Content Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 39 2.3.3 Semi-Structured Interviews .............................................................................................. 40 2.4 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................... 42 3 RESEARCH FINDINGS .............................................................................................. 44 3.1 How Free Basics Functions ......................................................................................... 44 3.1.1 General Application .............................................................................................................. 44 3.1.2 Front-end Analysis ................................................................................................................ 48 3.1.3 Back-end Analysis .................................................................................................................. 52 3.1.4 The Middleman in The Network ...................................................................................... 53 3.2 The Free Basics’s Ecosystem ...................................................................................... 57 3.3 Net-Neutrality and Zero-Rating ................................................................................ 60 4 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................ 65 4.1 Free But Restricted Basics .......................................................................................... 65 4.2 Interfering by Design ................................................................................................... 69 4.3 Net Neutrality and The Power in The Network ................................................... 71 5 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................ 74 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 79 APPENDIX 1- Interview & Observation Questions .............................................. 87 APPENDIX 2- Matrix to Analyze the Interview ..................................................... 90 APPENDIX 3 – Transcript Sample .............................................................................. 96 3 List of Figures 1. Figure 3.1-1 APN Setting in Android Operating System 45 2. Figure 3.1-2 Introductory Page of Free Basics in the Application version 45 3. Figure 3.1-3 Free Basics Directs Facebook Access to Browser 46 4. Figure 3.1-4 A Map of the distribution of Internet users in Indonesia 47 5. Figure 3.1-5 A Content Failed to Open in 2G connection 48 6. Figure 3.1-6 Menu in the Free Basics 48 7. Figure 3.1-7 Marketplace website displays the listing in the Free Basics 49 8. Figure 3.1-8 Categories in Free Basics browser version 50 9. Figure 3.1-9 Adding more services in Free Basics 50 10. Figure 3.1-10 Prompt to get a data subscription when limit is exceeded 51 11. Figure 3.1-11 Prompt to get a data package in financial application 51 12. Figure 3.1-12 Preview of Free Basics’s SDK, organized in classes 53 13. Figure 3.1-13 Free Basics Proxy Server 54 14. Figure 3.1-14 Onavo detected in Free Basics’s code 55 15. Figure 3.1-15 The information as identified with Onavo inside Free 55 16. Figure 3.2-1 Buzzfeed application in Free Basics Environment 60 17. Figure 3.2-2 Girl Effect content 60 List of Tables 1. Table 2.1-1 Top The number of users and base station from the top three mobile operators in Indonesia. 35 2. Table 3.1-2 Free Basics’ Privacy Policy 57 4 INTRODUCTION This is good for people because they’ll have an affordable way and a reason to connect to the internet and join the global knowledge economy. This is good for mobile operators because they’ll have more customers who want to buy more data, which will increase their profits and help them invest in building out the networks. This is good for phone manufacturers and technology providers because more people will want better devices, which will push the industry forward. This is good for internet services because the efficiencies we’ll all drive will make it easier and cheaper for the next 5 billion people to access their services. This is good for the world because everyone will benefit from the increased knowledge, experience and progress we make from having everyone connected to the internet. (Zuckerberg 2013) In August 2013, Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive and co-founder of Facebook, announced a paper on his platform, Facebook, titled “Is Connectivity a Human Right”. He wanted to make everyone happy and connected to the internet through Facebook’s nonprofit initiative called Internet.org. He envisages Internet.org