Facebook is misleading Indians with its full-page ads about Free Basics
If I was facebook, I&#x27;d tread lightly.<p>India has a long history of reneging on deals. Once a deal is struck with most nations, that&#x27;s it. Done deal. With India, they don&#x27;t care - they&#x27;ll do whatever is convenient for them.<p>They did just that on a huge WTO deal years in the making (source: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.npr.org&#x2F;2014&#x2F;08&#x2F;10&#x2F;339292735&#x2F;why-indias-modi-defied-the-wto" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.npr.org&#x2F;2014&#x2F;08&#x2F;10&#x2F;339292735&#x2F;why-indias-modi-defi...</a>). The also reneged on a solar energy trade agreement with the U.S (source: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.upi.com&#x2F;Business_News&#x2F;Energy-Industry&#x2F;2013&#x2F;02&#x2F;07&#x2F;Indias-solar-program-a-trade-issue&#x2F;41121360263835&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.upi.com&#x2F;Business_News&#x2F;Energy-Industry&#x2F;2013&#x2F;02&#x2F;07&#x2F;...</a>).<p>Hell, even Russia and China won&#x27;t back out of deals once struck. They&#x27;ll piss and moan if it turns out they got the short end of the stick, but they&#x27;ll still honor the deal.<p>I tell my clients to steer clear of India for this very reason - it&#x27;s nearly impossible to know when a deal is &quot;solid&quot;. There&#x27;s very little recourse if a business or person reneges on a business deal, or rips you off.<p>I almost hope facebook wins this little battle; India benefits from facebook pumping a bunch of money into India&#x27;s infrastructure to build it up, supplying internet to the poor, then India says &quot;Nope, sorry facebook, you gotta go. It was nice having you!&quot;. Facebook would get what it deserves. I actually wouldn&#x27;t be surprised if that happens.