A day after Flipkart walked out from Airtel Zero, online travel services provider Cleartrip and news broadcaster NDTV today pulled out of Facebook and Reliance Communications-promoted platform internet.org as the debate over net neutrality widens, reports Business Standard. 

“Time to draw a line in the sand, Cleartrip is pulling out of Internet.org and standing up for #NetNeutrality,” Cleartrip said on popular micro-blogging site Twitter.
Supporting the stand on net neutrality, the Times group was quoted in the report as saying, “The Times of India and its language websites appeal to all publishers to jointly withdraw from Internet.org,”

“In the case of the group’s properties such as TimesJobs and Maharashtra Times, where its competitors are not on zero-rate platforms, these will pull out of Internet.org. As for The Times of India, the group commits to withdraw from Internet.org if its direct competitors — India Today, NDTV, IBNLive, NewsHunt, and BBC — also pull out.” reports Business Standard. 

According to Business Standard report, NDTV has also decided not to be a part of Internet.org. NDTV was quoted in the report as saying, "We are committed to net neutrality. So, we will not be a part of Internet.org."

Cleartrip was quoted in the report as saying, “While our original intent was noble, it is impossible to pretend there is no conflict of interest (both real and perceived) in our decision to be a participant in Internet.org.”

In February, Facebook rolled out Internet.org in India in partnership with Reliance Communication, after it was launched in developing countries such as Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, and Colombia. Consumers on the platform can access more than 30 websites on news, job listings, health care, and entertainment, among others, for free. They can also access Facebook for free.

The Internet.org development comes a day after e-commerce site Flipkart had pulled out of the Airtel Zero platform amid social media outrage.

Earlier today, Facebook Founder Zuckerberg rejected criticism that the Internet.org, which is aimed at bringing five billion people under the world wide web’s fold, was against net neutrality.  

“For people not on the Internet.org, having some connectivity is much better than having none. That's why Internet.org is important and can co-exist with net neutrality,” Zuckerberg was quoted in the report as saying.

Zuckerberg added that net neutrality was important to “make sure network operators don’t discriminate and limit access to services people want to use, especially in countries where most people are online.”

The websites which are a part of Internet.org includes some of the leading Indian news broadcast and publishing organisations such as Aaj Tak, Amar Ujala, BBC News, Daily Bhaskar, IBN7, India Today, Manorama News, NDTV, Reuters, Times of India and news application NewsHunt, which hosts contents from dozens of other publications. However, many of these organisations have joined the campaign to support net neutrality.

Initially, Internet.org was made available to six circles – Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, and Telangana – while rest was expected to be launched in the next 90 days.