“India Would Have Been Better Under British Rule” Said FB Board Member On Free Basics Decision

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:

He deleted the tweet but the damage was already done:

However, India got appreciation by Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of World Wide Web for dismissing Free Basics:

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

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!