Egypt blocked Facebook Internet service over surveillance - sources

[tangor]

Egypt blocked Facebook Inc's (FB.O) Free Basics Internet service at the end of last year after the U.S. company refused to give the Egyptian government the ability to spy on users, two people familiar with the matter said.

Free Basics, launched in Egypt in October, is aimed at low-income customers, allowing anyone with a cheap computer or smartphone to create a Facebook account and access a limited set of Internet services at no charge.

The Egyptian government suspended the service on Dec. 30 and said at the time that the mobile carrier Etisalat had only been granted a temporary permit to offer the service for two months.

[reuters.com...]

[Andy Langton]

It's a pretty beleaguered service. An earlier story from WebmasterWorld - Facebook's "Free Basics" Internet Criticised by India's Telecom Regulator [webmasterworld.com].

[Manswery]

Hi, I'm from Egypt and I think its frustrating what happened, the service is take down the minute it became active. I find it cool that Facebook refuse to allow the Egyptian or any government to spy on users, like what Whatsapp did recently. This is very good.

However, I hope this is solved soon because it is making a big controversy and I'm afraid it will effect the technology sector as whole in Egypt in the long run, the sector that is already still talking very small steps