‘We can fix the internet …’ says World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee

The World Wide Web was invented back in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee with the motive that the service would remain free and open for public use. Today, around 5.5 billion people use the web worldwide, but it is not the same as when it was first launched. The web has changed significantly over the years, and it no longer reflects the democratic and open nature as originally imagined.

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At the Dalkey Book Festival, Mark Little, a journalist and entrepreneur, described Berners-Lee's book “This Is for Everyone: The Unfinished Story of the World Wide Web”  as “a call to arms,” which means it should appeal to people who want to take action to improve and protect the internet.

The book says that “We can fix the internet … It’s not too late,” and his mission is to “battle for the soul of the web”. Speaking to an audience that included Jimmy Wales, Berners-Lee said the internet's current state is not what he hoped it would become. He highlighted how ads are being used to track users' behaviour.

According to Berners-Lee, things changed with the arrival of personalised advertising, where companies collect data about users and show personalised ads based on their interests, activities, and online behaviour.

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He also highlighted that people must regain control over their personal data, which is currently collected and monetised by large technology companies. To address this, he talked about the project called Solid (Social Linked Data), which aims to give people ownership of their data.

Under the project, users will be able to store and control their information, and also decide who can access it. He also talked about the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and warned about how companies are collecting personal data to power their systems.

“Does Siri work for you? No, she works for Apple. Does Alexa work for you? No she works for Amazon,” Berners-Lee explained. 

Berners-Lee has repeatedly called for a revamp of internet regulation to prevent the space from becoming even more harmful in the future. He stated that the web is at a “tipping point” amid rising disinformation and privacy concerns.