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The government is not doing anything to further the internet reach - facebook is doing it, who cares if there is a vested interest as long as the benefit is much more.

When you buy medicine it makes the pharmaceutical companies cement their stranglehold in medicine world.

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Facebook is not doing anything to further the internet reach. All they are doing is furthering the reach of their walled garden. There is little to no longterm benefit from this.

You consider wikipedia part of facebook's walled garden? Or you just don't see any benefit to providing poor people around the world with access to it?

It's their wall and their garden. If Facebook says Wikipedia can be included in their walled garden then obviously it is part of their walled garden.

Beside the above obvious point, the real point is not whether there is a benefit to providing access to Wikipedia with strings attached. The real point is this: are we giving up more than we are getting if we consent to Facebook zero rating some content and putting up walls to deny access to everything else?

My personal option is that the bargain is very bad for all parties involved.

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