Egypt wanted to spy through Facebook’s Free Basics initiative

Facebook’s Free Basics initiative, which allowed users to use a limited form of the Internet, could not be used by the Egyptian government to spy on citizens, according to the company. That would be the reason the service was taken off the air in December.

Two sources allegedly familiar with the talks between Facebook and the Egyptian government confirm this story, Reuters reported. It’s unclear exactly what kind of access the government was trying to gain. Facebook and telecom provider Etisalat, which operated the licensed service, declined to comment.

Etisalat had been granted a license to operate the Free Basics service for two months in October, but it was not renewed after that period. No reason was disclosed for this decision at the time. A spokesman for Egypt’s telecommunications ministry now told Reuters that it was motivated by the fact that free internet access would have harmed competition.

In September, Facebook had improved the security of Free Basics after criticism, making it easier for users to connect via secure https connections, among other things. It is unclear whether this decision played a role in the service being taken off the air in Egypt. In other countries, the introduction of the service has been blocked for other reasons, for example in India it was determined that the service violates the principle of net neutrality.