Zuckerberg visit comes as Facebook moves from influential to powerful

So Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook CEO, was in town last week. Behind the widely publicised sampling of local cuisine at Mama Oliech's and a quick dash to the game reserve, what else might have been inside his mind?

As columnist Murithi Mutiga observes, Facebook's growth prospects in developed economies are hitting saturation levels, given that anyone there who could be on Facebook is likely already signed up.

Naturally, like any other business enterprise, Facebook must reach out and grow into new markets. Africa is a virgin digital market and perhaps the last frontier in any multinational’s expansion strategy.

Facebook says it wants everyone connected to the Internet, which is a good thing. However, its Free Basics strategy towards achieving this goal has met some serious resistance from India, another developing economy that Facebook has targeted in its expansion strategy.

With Free Basics, Internet users can access Facebook on their mobile phones for free.  

It has been said before that if you are not paying for the product, then you are the product. Facebook and other Internet giants like Google offer free services because they want to grow the number of users viewing their services, and the more the eyeballs, the higher the premium demanded from advertisers.

Nothing illegal with that, other than the fact that Facebook gets to decide what content the "free" subscribers get to see on the Internet. This can be quite limiting, if not misleading to new users, who may imagine that the Internet is Facebook and Facebook is the Internet.

REGULATORY NIGHTMARE

A much more controversial project by Facebook takes the "freebie" idea to the next level. It involves putting a satellite in space in order to beam free Internet from the skies onto communities in developing countries that are yet to join the Internet revolution.

Whereas the project recently suffered a setback when its rocket exploded on the launch pad with the satellite on board, it’s clear the idea is still on the table, and Facebook will surely launch another satellite.

The controversy around beaming free Internet from the skies has been highlighted by domestic telecommunications operators, who see it as a threat to their businesses.

At the moment, for Facebook to offer free Internet, they must go through existing telecom operators, some of whom have not found it necessary to engage with Facebook. With its own satellite equipment, Facebook can begin to bypass operators while targeting their subscriber base.

This presents a regulatory nightmare because unlike local operators who buy expensive frequency licenses and pay domestic taxes, Facebook may be able to engage subscribers without such overheads – and heavily undercut the competition.

Finally, as we approach an election year, it is good to remember that Facebook has been accused of manipulating its search algorithms to favour one stream of political thought over the other.

Essentially, the tech giant has the prerogative to choose which topics will trend on its network, and which ones will not. Facebook has denied these accusations, but lingering suspicions also extend to its competitor, Google.

With over five million Facebook users in Kenya, one can begin to see the power and influence that new social media outlets have — with little or no regulatory oversight.

Mr Walubengo is a lecturer at the Multimedia University of Kenya, Faculty of Computing and IT. Email: [email protected], Twitter: @jwalu