Facebook's Nicholas Clegg counters Mukesh Ambani, says data isn't oil

Facebook global affairs V-P says India must push free flow of information

Countering Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Facebook Inc on Thursday said data was not the new oil, and countries like India should allow its free flow across borders instead of attempting to hoard it as a finite commodity within national boundaries.

“Data isn’t oil — a finite commodity to be owned and traded, pumped from the ground and burned in cars and factories...a better liquid to liken it to is water, with the global internet like a great borderless ocean of currents and tides. The value of data comes not from hoarding it or trading it like a finite commodity, but