Dear Times Group, you either support net neutrality or you don't

On Wednesday, the Times Internet issued a statement on their corporate blog  committing to withdraw from internet.org . The statement needs to be read in its entirety to appreciate the magic of double speak – so we are reproducing it below for your benefit:

“The Times of India and its language websites like Navbharat Times, Maharashtra Times, Ei Samay and Nav Gujarat Samay, that have together been spearheading the movement for net-neutrality in India, appeal to all publishers to jointly withdraw from internet.org .”

“In the case of the group’s properties such as TimesJobs and Maharashtra Times, where its competitors are not on zero-rate platforms, these properties will pull out of internet.org. As for the Times of India itself, the group commits to withdraw from internet.org if its direct competitors – India Today, NDTV, IBNLive, NewsHunt, and BBC – also pull out. The group also encourages its fellow language and English news publishers – Dainik Jagran, Aaj Tak, Amar Ujala, Maalai Malar, Reuters, and Cricinfo – to join the campaign for net neutrality and withdraw from zero rate schemes.”

“Says a Times official: ‘We support net neutrality because it creates a fair, level playing field for all companies – big and small – to produce the best service and offer it to consumers. We will lead the drive towards a neutral internet, but we need our fellow publishers and content providers to do so as well, so that the playing field continues to be level.’.”

“The Times Group has led the fight for net neutrality and is committed to its principles. Our campaign to preserve the unfettered internet has received an overwhelming response from netizens. However, we believe that TRAI and the government must do their bit by unconditionally supporting net neutrality. This would encourage fair and meritocratic competition, rather than penalizing a company for taking a principled stand.”

The statement starts off by saying all the ‘right’ things; things that people want to hear. But since when has the Times Group been spearheading the movement for net neutrality in India? Maybe since the opinion against Airtel Zero so dramatically went downhill. But before that, they were happily part of Facebook’s initiative internet.org – which pretty much does that same thing as Airtel Zero.

Facebook’s partnership with Reliance Communications to provide free Internet access to 33 websites as part of its Internet.org initiative had raised eyebrows with activists saying that it violates net neutrality.

Then comes the caveat where they say that they will only pull out if all their competitors pull out as well. This is where you have to admire what NDTV has done. For the Times Group, it is pretty clear that money comes first and if pulling out means bad business then they aren’t exactly interested – net neutrality be damned.

And that is the major problem with their statement – NDTV has pulled out because it is committed to net neutrality in a much truer sense. They did not say that everyone else had to pull out as well. They did what they thought was right and followed it through to its logical end. That is leadership of a kind as well.

The Times Group – by almost any standard – is a giant in India’s media space. But rather than set a precedent, they are happy to wait and see what the others will do. They could have – like the NDTV – been truly proactive. At a certain level, this is the worst kind of posturing – the kind where you say that you really wanted to do something but couldn’t because you were held back by others. Sometimes, you need to swim against the tide as well.

That again is completely the view point of the Times Group. They are free to pull out – or not – but at least they shouldn’t come out saying they support net neutrality.

At last count, over 600,000 emails have been sent to TRAI on the net neutrality issue and that number is only going to keep growing as we get closer to April 24 deadline. So get online, send an email and save the internet – do it because you want to and regardless of whether your friends or competitors are doing it.