Despite the noble cause of providing free internet in hard to reach regions of the world, Facebook's Free Basics program was recently slammed by Net Neutrality activists in India.

In order to curb negative comments about the service, Facebook launched the Internet.org developer platform, a service that will allow content developers to submit their respective apps for consideration.

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The core idea of the campaign was that the Free Basic team will appraise all the submitted apps and will only publish those that have passed its intensive standards, according to Tech Crunch. This means that apps that were able to make the cut will be accessible through Free Basics services.

Although these developer apps will not gain the same degree of online visibility enjoyed by Free Basics' official partners, a secondary tab will be created for these apps. Although the campaign was met with various critical opinions, some experts claim that the initiative is slowly moving towards providing free and neutral Internet to users and developers as well.

The main vision of Facebook when it launched Free Basics is to create and develop a platform that will allow users to freely access supported online services provided that they have network coverage and they are using an Internet-ready device.

Free Basics was criticized by Net Neutrality experts when the service was launched with exclusive partners. Activists claim that this violates the whole notion of a Free and Open Internet where users and content creators, regardless of their commercial stature, are treated the same.

Centre for Internet and Society policy director Pranesh Prakash told Bloomberg, "The India fight is helping shape debates elsewhere. Activists in other countries such as Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia are watching this debate and will seize the momentum created in India."

Facebook is now struggling to keep its Free Basics service in India. The social networking giant launched the "Save Free Basics In India" campaign and encourages Indian users to support equality in the digital platform by sending out forms that are sent to Internet regulators.

Facebook has also resorted to sending out full-page advertisements highlighting the positive effect of the Free Basics service not only in India but in other parts of the world as well.