DUBAI: India has become biggest market for Facebook with 241 million active monthly users of the online social media and social networking service, overtaking the US market with 240 million subscribers.
Facebook has achieved impressive growth in both India and the US since the start of 2017, but the latest figures suggest that active users in India are growing more than twice as fast as they are in the US, noted a report prepared by HootSuite and WeAreSocial for advertisers.
Active users in India are up 27 percent in the past six months compared with a growth of 12 percent in the US over the same period.
Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, earlier announced that social network he founded in 2004 has reached the 2 billion-user milestone, or roughly equal to two-thirds of the world’s population with Internet access.
Social media penetration in India however remains relatively low where only 19 percent, or 241 million of the subcontinent’s 1.282 billion population, are active social media users. In comparison, 73 percent of the US’s 327 million population are active on social media.
The report also noted Brazil is the third biggest market for Facebook with 139 million active users monthly, followed by Indonesia with 126 million; Mexico with 86 million; the Philippines with 69 million; Vietnam with 64 million; Thailand with 57 million; Turkey with 56 million and the UK with 44 million active subscribers.
Facebook, meanwhile, has rolled out Messenger Lite in India, almost nine months after its global debut. The app was first rolled out in countries like Kenya, Tunisia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Venezuela in October last year.
Messenger is the world’s second largest messaging app after WhatsApp, which is also owned by Facebook, with each app boasting an active user base of more one billion subscribers.
Facebook’s Messenger Lite is aimed at devices with low-end hardware and places with slower Internet speeds, but offers the same capability for users to send and receive text, photos, links, emojis and stickers, aside from supporting for voice calls.
“Messenger Lite is a solution for people who don’t have the latest smartphone, but still want to stay connected to their friends and family,” the Facebook earlier said in a statement.
India now the biggest user of Facebook, overtakes the US
India now the biggest user of Facebook, overtakes the US
Israel extends foreign media ban law until end of 2027
- Order replaces temporary emergency legislation that allowed authorization of so-called ‘Al Jazeera bill’
- Extension of temporary order empowers Communications Ministry to restrict foreign channels deemed to cause ‘real harm to state security’
LONDON: Israel’s Knesset approved late Monday an extension of the temporary order empowering the Communications Ministry to shut down foreign media outlets, pushing the measure through until Dec. 31, 2027.
The bill, proposed by Likud lawmaker Ariel Kallner, passed its second and third readings by a 22-10 vote, replacing wartime emergency legislation known as the “Al Jazeera Law.”
Under the extended order, the communications minister — with prime ministerial approval and security cabinet or government ratification — can restrict foreign channels deemed to cause “real harm to state security,” even outside states of emergency.
Measures include suspending broadcasts, closing offices, seizing equipment, blocking websites, and directing the defense minister to block satellite signals, including in the West Bank, without disrupting other channels.
Administrative orders last 90 days, with possible extensions. Unlike the temporary measure, the new law does not require court approval to shut down a media outlet.
The move has drawn sharp criticism from human rights and media groups, who warn it entrenches restrictions on Arab and foreign outlets amid a broader erosion of press freedoms.
“Israel is openly waging a battle against media outlets, both local and foreign, that criticize the government’s narrative; that is typical behavior of authoritarian regimes,” International Federation of Journalists General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said in November after the bill’s first reading.
“We are deeply concerned about the Israeli parliament passing this controversial bill, as it would be a serious blow to free speech and media freedom, and a direct attack on the public’s right to know.”
In a parallel development, the Israeli Cabinet unanimously approved on Monday the shutdown of Army Radio (Galei Tzahal) after 75 years, with operations ceasing on March 1, 2026.
In a statement, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warned the decision “undermines public broadcasting in Israel and restricts freedom of expression,” lacking a legal basis.
