On March 12, 1989, Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer programmer working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), submitted a proposal for an information management system. His boss responded with a “vague but exciting” note. This proposal was the first sketch of the future World Wide Web, creating the system that operates on the Internet today.
On the 30th anniversary of his groundbreaking invention, Berners-Lee shared the warning about the “causes of dysfunction” facing the Internet and how “the battle over the Internet is one of the most important causes of our time.” In an open letter published Tuesday, he wrote about the consequences of the growing department that his invention has fueled.
“With every new feature, every new website, the gap between those who are online and those who are not grows. Thus, the need to make the web available to everyone increases,” he wrote in the letter.
The web inventor now runs the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C for short). The aim is to develop various standards and guidelines for the operation of the web. In November 2018, he launched a campaign called “Contract for the Web” to “establish clear norms, laws and standards that underpin the web.
Berners-Lee announced his new effort last year at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, Portugal. The French government and more than 50 companies, including Facebook and Google, have signed the contract. It is expected to be fully published in May 2019.
Berners-Lee's warning adds to growing concerns about the state of the Internet worldwide, the powerful companies that now control much of users' attention, and the prospect that the open and fair Internet that supports the growth of these companies is at risk.
Berners-Lee said this communication system “gave a voice to marginalized groups” but also “created an opportunity for fraudsters that gave a voice to those spreading hate.” He appeared to be referring to tech giants like Google and Facebook, which have created new industries and fueled recent debates about privacy, disinformation and the role of social media in a democracy.
However, Berners-Lee said he was also optimistic about the future of the World Wide Web and "it would be pessimistic and unimaginative to assume that the Web as we know it cannot be changed for the better in the next 30 years." ”
