Legal Perspective on Digital Trade: Keeping the Internet Neutral

Abstract

The issue of internet neutrality, while a subject of heated debate in developed countries across the world, has more recently become a matter of intense discussion in emerging economies like India. A recent order by the Indian telecom regulator has prohibited the ‘zero-rating’ of data services by telecom providers - a practice largely acknowledged to be a violation of the net neutrality principle. This move has put brakes on the roll out of Facebook’s recent ‘Free Basics’ initiative that aims to provide free but limited data services to poor sections of the Indian population. While the traditional discourse on net neutrality has largely remained in the domain of technology law, this paper analyses trade-related implications of the Indian decision, making a case for net neutrality from a trade and development perspective. It is argued that the international trade law framework constitutes an important source of anti- trust safeguards governing the trade of internet-based services. An open and neutral internet is key to preventing concentration of market power in the digital economy, ensuring ease of entry to small and medium-sized internet- based business owners in India.