&gt; Let us not judge from Intellectual Ivory towers,<p>Labeling someone who disagrees with you as being in an &quot;ivory tower&quot; is basically an ad-hominem. Argue the merits, not the source.<p>&gt; the facts on the ground are 80% of Indians do not have internet access. You sometimes have to try &quot;impure&quot; methods. The question is still up in the air, whether FB Basics is gateway to full internet or if it is a walled garden. Either way, it is better than No Access.<p>What if a pharma company came and said, &quot;you know, this medicine causes birth defects, but it&#x27;s OK to push it on Indians because 80% lack decent medication&quot;... would you be for it?<p>India is making tremendous progress in bringing connectivity to the people. I grew up in an India where telephones were so scarce, that the waiting list for a landline phone was more than 10 years. People in villages had absolutely no access to phones at all; reaching a phone meant taking a bus&#x2F;train to the nearest big town, and going to a PCO.<p>And yet today, almost everyone has a cellphone.<p>By pushing this &quot;walled garden&quot; to the people, FB will capture the market and derail the train of progress. FB has the ability to pay local carriers; but does HN?