That's under the assumption that the companies would not have offered a paid internship instead. And as said before, I don't believe that there a many legitimat

That's under the assumption that the companies would not have offered a paid internship instead. And as said before, I don't believe that there a many legitimate reasons where a company that is able to offer proper internships is not able or unwilling to afford a meager internship salary if not for questionable motives. (Also, what are you trying to do with the overly emotional aspect of bringing up your friends here? How is that supposed to work, should I bring up a tearjerking story of people who are "extremely insulted and upset that they were not able to afford an internship because affluent people would intern for free"? And then repeat your last paragraph, verbatim?)