Facebook’s zero-rated internet platform for developing countries was called Free Basics.
The service grew out of Internet.org, a Facebook-led initiative announced in 2013 with telecommunications and technology partners. Internet.org aimed to expand affordable internet access by offering a limited selection of online services without charging users for their data. Facebook renamed the app and platform Free Basics in September 2015.
Free Basics did not provide unrestricted access to the entire internet. Participating mobile operators made approved services—often including health, education, news, weather and Facebook-related pages—available without data charges. That restricted model triggered criticism from digital-rights groups, who argued that selecting which websites were free conflicted with net-neutrality principles.
It is often confused with Wikipedia Zero, which focused on free access to Wikipedia, or Airtel Zero, a separate Indian zero-rating scheme. India’s telecom regulator banned discriminatory data tariffs in 2016, and Facebook withdrew Free Basics from the country.