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THE SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook has launched a stripped-back version of its Android app called Facebook Lite.
Aimed squarely at emerging markets, Facebook Lite tips the scales just at 1MB, which means it will load and update quickly for those with super-slow mobile internet connections.
Vijay Shankar, product manager for Facebook Lite, said in a blog post: "Today we’re introducing Facebook Lite, a new version of Facebook for Android that uses less data and works well across all network conditions.
"More than a billion people around the world access Facebook from a range of mobile devices on varying networks. In many areas, networks can be slow and not able to support all the functionality found in Facebook for Android.
"Facebook Lite was built for these situations, giving people a reliable Facebook experience when bandwidth is at a minimum.
"Facebook Lite is less than 1MB so it is fast to install and quick to load. It includes Facebook’s core experiences like News Feed, status updates, photos, notifications and more."
The service is rolling out now to parts of Asia, and will arrive in Latin America, Africa and Europe in "the coming weeks".
Facebook Lite arrives as part of the company's push to make sure that everybody has access to Facebook the internet, most notably with its Internet.org initiative.
However, the project has faced growing criticism in recent months, many claiming that Internet.org tramples over the principals of net neutrality.
Last month more than 60 firms, including the US Centre for Media Justice and SavetheInternet.in, signed an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg voicing their concerns.
"We, the undersigned, share a common concern about the launch and expansion of Facebook’s Internet.org platform and its implications for the open internet around the world," the letter read.
"We are deeply concerned that Internet.org has been misleadingly marketed as providing access to the full internet, when in fact it only provides access to a limited number of internet-connected services that are approved by Facebook and local ISPs.
"In its present conception, Internet.org thereby violates the principles of net neutrality, threatening freedom of expression, equality of opportunity, security, privacy and innovation." ยต
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