Tim Berners-Lee says regulation of the Web may be needed
Sir Tim Berners-Lee inventor of the World Wide Web arrives at Guildhall to receive an Honorary Freedom of the City of London award on September 24, 2014 in London, England. He called for increased regulation.
The invention of the World Wide Web helped usher in the age of the modern internet.
Although the companies are aware of the problems and have made efforts to fix them - developing systems to tackle fake news, bots and influence operations - they have been built to "maximise profit more than maximise social good".
"He then goes a bit bonkers and accuses the internet kings of trying to "weaponise the web" for their own gains, with the answer to such manipulation perhaps being a ".legal or regulatory framework that accounts for social objectives may help ease those tensions".
"This means thinking about how we align the incentives of the tech sector with those of users and society at large, and consulting a diverse cross-section of society in the process", he continued in his public message, which was posted on the same day the World Wide Web turns 29 years old.
In last year's letter, he lamented the erosion of privacy, the rise of misinformation and the lack of transparency in political advertising online.
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Berners-Lee points out that these key companies control which "ideas and options are seen and shared" at a key point in history, with the number of people with internet access globally to exceed 50 per cent for the first time in 2018, in line with the United Nations declaration that using the net is a basic human right. "Add to this the competitive advantage that their user data gives them, and we can expect the next 20 years to be far less innovative than the last", he warned.
These online gatekeepers can lock in their power by acquiring smaller rivals, buying up new innovations and hiring the industry's top talent, making it harder for others to compete, he said. Advertising isn't and shouldn't be the only way for people to make money online. The root of the problem, he says, is that too much power has been concentrated in the hands of too few online corporations.
"In recent years, we've seen conspiracy theories trend on social media platforms, fake Twitter and Facebook accounts stoke social tensions, external actors interfere in elections, and criminals steal troves of personal data", he said.
The social network, along with Google and Twitter, appeared before Congress to answer questions on the extent of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. Currently, half of the world's population can not access the internet. On both points, we need to be a little more creative. Berners-Lee said people should challenge themselves to promote "greater ambitions" for the web, which may include emphasis on decentralisation and regulation for the largest firms.
And while he's at it, Berners-Lee urges people to think bigger for the web's future.
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