Facebook rebrands Internet.org as Free Basics

Social networking giant Facebook on Friday said that it was rebranding its free internet sharing platform Internet.org to Free Basics which would help distinguish between the broader Internet.org initiative, and the app and website that currently provide access to Free Basic services.

"Today we're announcing a new name for the app and mobile website - Free Basics by Facebook. We're making this change to better distinguish the Internet.org initiative from the programmes and services we're providing, including Free Basics," the company said in an official blog post.

"Anyone currently using the app will be able to continue using the Android app, though it will now be called Free Basics by Facebook in Google Play. And the mobile web version, which will redirect from the previous URL, can be accessed at FreeBasics.com."

The Menlo Park-headquartered company also said that it was announcing more free services through the Free Basics platform.

"Starting today, more than one billion people who have access to Internet.org's free basic services across Asia, Africa and Latin America will now be able to access more free services through the Internet.org platform," it said.

Facebook also said that it was making safer for people to access websites and services for people via Free Basics.

"With Free Basics, Internet.org is making it safer for people to connect to the websites and services they care about by encrypting information wherever possible."

"Several months ago we announced support for services using HTTPS in the Free Basics Android app, and today, we're adding support for HTTPS services on the web version as well," it said.

"And even if the service you access only runs over HTTP, we encrypt that information between our servers and any device that supports HTTPS," the company added.

Currently, the Internet.org website has been moved to Free Basics in India and the site says that only Reliance SIM card holders can access the site and its services.