The Egyptian government had shunned the Facebook Free Basics services in December 2015 without providing any proper explanation. However, it is said they banned the service because Facebook refused to allow spying on the users through this medium and chose to enforce their privacy policies.

Formerly known as Internet.org, Free Basics basically provides access to free Internet services like news, local jobs, healthcare information, travel, sports, government details, to name a few. The aim is to reach out to an audience with limited facilities and income, and improve connectivity around the globe. However, the service faced a lot of criticism on the grounds of security. For instance, India voiced their protest saying it breached the laws of net neutrality along with data security.

But the reasons for Egypt bailing out are still murky. According to Mohamed Hanafi, Egypt's Ministry of Communication spokesperson, "The service was offered free of charge to the consumer, and the national telecommunication regulator saw the service as harmful to companies and their competitors." The statement is still pretty vague and cites no specific cause. But two individuals familiar with the matter claim the government arrived at this decision because they did not get the permission to carry on their surveillance activities. No light has been thrown on the nature of the information the government wanted access to.

According to Facebook reports, almost 3 billion people were using Free Basics in Egypt ever since its launch in October, of which 1 million did not have any Internet access. Currently, almost 90 million people remain on the primary Facebook site that is still available in the country, through computers and mobiles.

The Egyptian government is not yet looking at shutting down Facebook completely as an option, as this would lead to major unrest among the population. But apparently they can control the social network's rising popularity among the lower-income group by removing Free Basics, says Ramy Raoof, a digital security researcher and consultant.

Although this is not the first time the social media giant has been caught between government demands and protection of users' privacy, Facebook has nonetheless expressed its disappointment over the suspension and hopes to "resolve (the) situation soon."

Photo: Alkan Boudewijn de Beaumont Chaglar | Flickr