"In many countries, mobile operators have teamed up with social media platforms to offer free access to specific websites or internet services—including news websites. The most well-known of these offerings, Facebook’s Free Basics, has been explicitly pitched as a way to give citizens in develop ... ing countries greater access to news, but Facebook is not the only company touting these so-called “zero-rated” arrangements as a bridge across the digital divide. This report examines whether these arrangements are broadening access to diverse sources of news, as promised, and whether they might have broader consequences for the news market. Little evidence exists that zero-rating alone has been a successful strategy to grow audience reach. Technical hurdles jeopardize news media inclusion, especially for smaller outlets. Zero-rated news is a concern for fair markets and pluralism as it might strengthen the dominance of large internet platforms." (Key findings) more

"The digital convergence means that how the Internet develops going forward — both in terms of policy and technology — will shape the very environment in which all other media operate. This report makes the case to this community that they can, and must, engage in the decision-making bodies that ... are shaping Internet governance (IG) to ensure that the Internet — and the growing media sphere it sustains — remains open, pluralistic, and democratic. The media development community can work to improve the global enabling environment for media by actively engaging in Internet governance. Policy issues being discussed at ICANN, IGF, ITU, IETF, and IEEE could greatly benefit from the input of those with media development experience. Multistakeholder Internet governance presents a unique opportunity for the media development community to actively shape the future media ecosystem." (CIMA website) more