Mark Zuckerberg chides board member over 'deeply upsetting' India comments

Marc Andreessen, an influential investor, posted a tweet that appeared to back colonialism following India’s decision to ban Facebook’s free mobile internet

A member of Facebook’s board and influential Silicon Valley investor was forced into a groveling apology on Wednesday after acknowledging that remarks appearing to support British colonialism in India were “ill-informed and ill-advised”.

In a series of apologetic tweets, Marc Andreessen, who is accustomed to ranting on Twitter to nearly half a million devoted followers, apologized “without reservation” for an earlier, now deleted tweet.

“I am a huge admirer of the nation of India and the Indian people, who have been nothing but kind and generous to me for many years,” Andreessen wrote. “I will leave all future commentary on all of these topics to people with more knowledge and experience than me.”

The humiliating climbdown came after Andreessen lashed out on Tuesday night at India’s decision to block Facebook’s controversial Internet.org and its Free Basics project, which sought to offer limited free mobile internet but would open the door for a private, unregulated and pay-to-play internet service.

India’s telecommunications regulatory board banned Facebook’s $45m effort to deliver Free Basics and ruled in favor of net neutrality, writing that “differential tariffs arguably disadvantage small content providers who may not be able to participate in such schemes”. This could, the body added, “create entry barriers and non-level playing field for these players, stifling innovation”.

Those fighting for an open internet in India lauded the ban. “This is great news,” said Kiran Jonnalagadda, a member of the Save the Internet campaign in favor of net neutrality. “It is what this country needed and it took a lot of effort pushing for it. It took a lot moral fibre for TRAI to stand up to the telcos.”

Andreessen, in his tweets, argued that India rejected it because of corrupt Indian telcos wanting to keep internet access away from poor people.

“Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades. Why stop now?”