More than six years after Facebook launched its ambitious Free Basics program to bring the Internet to the masses, the social network is back at it again with a new zero-rating initiative called Discover.
The service, available as a mobile web and Android app, allows users to browse the Internet using free daily data caps.
Facebook Discover is currently being tested in Peru in partnership with local telecom companies such as Bitel, Claro, Entel, and Movistar.
Unlike the regular rich-content browsing, Facebook’s latest connectivity project only provides low-bandwidth text-only based browsing, meaning other forms of data-intensive content such as audio and video are not supported.
Another key differentiator is that it treats all websites equally, whereas users of Free Basics are limited to a handful of sites that are submitted by developers and meet technical criteria set by Facebook.
The move, ultimately, drew criticism for violating principles of net neutrality, leading to its ban in India in 2016.
A Secure Web-Based Proxy
But how does Discover actually work? It’s a lot similar to Free Basics in that all traffic is routed through a proxy. As a result, the device only interacts…
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