Facebook has an app called Free Basics operating in more than 40 countries around the world that gives its users free internet. Now, it may soon be available in the United States.

Free Basics is aimed at low income and rural Facebook users who either cannot afford or access high-speed internet easily. It allows access to online news, Facebook, health information, and job leads. However, Free Basics isn’t free, strictly speaking. Instead, Facebook partners with mobile carriers which in turn allow users to stretch their data plans with the free accessibility.

Currently, Free Basics is unavailable in the US because of regulation issues. Since Facebook has been unable to find a way around these problems and after its debacle with Free Basics in India earlier this year, it isn’t taking any chances. Consumer advocates there said in February that Facebook was selectively picking the services users could see and access on Free Basics, placing unpicked companies at a disadvantage. Many fear the same will happen in the US, giving Facebook undue control over what its users can see on the internet.

The Federal Communications Commission argues that the way Free Basics works, a practice called “zero-rating,” violates its net neutrality rules and gives an unfair advantage to large corporations and their business partners. Smaller companies get pushed out of the marketplace simply because they cannot compete. So, although Facebook is being cautious about its plans for Free Basics in the US, the company has confirmed that it has been talking to smaller mobile carriers about how to integrate the app with their respective carrier plans.

The future of free internet in America all depends on Facebook’s willingness to relinquish control over what its users can see.