More than 79% of all Indians connected to the web now access it through mobile. This means that India's average mobile penetration lies nearly 20% ahead of the global average, in part due to increasing sales of cheap handsets. The report from We Are Social and Hootsuite also revealed that the total number of internet users in the country now stands at 462 million. However, the study also showed a large gender gap in India's Facebook userbase. It was found that over three-quarters of Facebook users in the country are male, even though India has the second highest number of Facebook users just behind the US. It is believed that the problem lies in cultural values in the country, which have in the past banned single women in small communities from using the social network, to stop them talking to single men. Facebook commented on the issue, saying that it was “committed to bringing women online through various initiatives” and allowing “their voices to be heard”.Â
