The decision taken by TRAI regarding Net Neutrality has disappointed the social media giant Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg but he was professional enough to give a balanced statement but it can’t be said for the Facebook board member and Silicon Valley major Marc Andreessen.
The Indian telecom watchdog TRAI has dismissed the concept of Free Basics service and it has given the decision in favor of Net Neutrality which means that there will be no differential pricing by telecom operators.
This made Marc Andreessen upset and he took to Twitter to express his disappointment:
This was too harsh for a country who takes social media very seriously. In his tweet, he was trying to make a point that India would have been better off in colonial rule and the decision against Net Neutrality will make the country weak economically.
Now, Indians are quite fast in reacting and he started getting mouthful responses:
Now @facebook Board Director @pmarca suggests being colonized was good for India & we should've let Fb do so:) pic.twitter.com/kq7ZsNTQGl
— Mahesh Murthy (@maheshmurthy) February 10, 2016
He deleted the tweet but the damage was already done:
Looks like @pmarca has deleted his ‘anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for India’ tweet. Hope he is regretting. Apologies?
— Raju PP (@rajupp) February 10, 2016
However, India got appreciation by Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of World Wide Web for dismissing Free Basics:
Well done India! passes strong #netneutrality rules, stands up for open Web. See @webfoundation -> https://t.co/CvahcQYNtd #savetheinternet
— Tim Berners-Lee (@timberners_lee) February 8, 2016
Marc further tried to control the situation:
https://twitter.com/pmarca/status/697284860881170433
He then stood against colonialism:
https://twitter.com/pmarca/status/697286737731563524
Well mustard oils are something he should love now
@pmarca @aparanjape @vgr Learn from P Mark Mustard Oil Marketing. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/kYSOYfuP9L
— Pranav Hundekari (@PranavHundekari) February 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/BabaJogeshwari/status/697379682124058624
Finally he apologized:
https://twitter.com/pmarca/status/697399609929261057
https://twitter.com/pmarca/status/697404200368500736
Hope you have learnt something this time, Marc!
