In 1989, the internet was already a few years old, but it looked nothing like it does today. The internet we use today owes much of its look and feel to Sir Tim Berners-Lee and his creation, the World Wide Web. Yes, the launch of the web dates back 35 years to Berners-Lee’s paper Information Management: A Proposal.
Berners-Lee did not intend to change the world, however. He simply wanted to create an easy way to share information within the European Center for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN. His solution was a hypertext system distributed over the Internet. We know it as the web.
It took several years to go from an idea on paper to a working system. In 1993, when I became the first person to write an introduction to the web, there were only two web servers. When I wrote the book Inside the World Wide Web in 1994, the popularity of the Internet had exploded. In that time it has gone from something only techies used to the foundations of today’s ubiquitous web. In short, everyone wanted to be on the internet.
Two opposing decades
As Berners-Lee stated in 2024, the web was built on “the intention to enable collaboration, encourage compassion, and generate creativity – what I call the 3 Cs.”
“It was meant to be a tool to empower humanity. The first decade of the web fulfilled that promise – the web was decentralized.” Berners-Lee continues: “Over the past decade, instead of embodying these values, the web has instead helped to erode them.” He attributes this to “the dysfunction caused by the fact that the web is dominated by the interest of several companies”.
You can see it for yourself. In the early days of the Internet, many businesses sprang up on the fertile soil of the Internet. Today, the Internet and the stock market are dominated by Meta (Facebook), Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet (Google). The Internet economy belongs to the big powers, not small businesses.
“The web can be improved in the next 30 years”
Berners-Lee recognized, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of its creation, that the web has become “a public square”, a library, a doctor’s office, a store, a school, a design studio, an office, a cinema, a bank and many other things. Unfortunately, it has also created opportunities for scammers, given a voice to those who spread hatred, and made it easier for all kinds of crimes to be committed. You only need to take a look at social networks such as X, formerly Twitter, Reddit and Nextdoor to realize the ugliness of the web.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has not helped matters. In fact, Mr Berners-Lee thinks AI has only made things worse. “Rapid advances in AI have exacerbated these concerns, proving that problems on the web are not isolated but rather deeply linked to emerging technologies.”
Mr Berners-Lee nevertheless hopes that the situation will improve. “It would be defeatist and unimaginative to assume that the web as we know it cannot be improved in the next 30 years.”
Here are the two problems of the web
How ? In tackling two problems, he notes:
The first is the extent of the concentration of power, which contradicts the spirit of decentralization that I had originally envisioned. This has segmented the web, with a struggle to keep users hooked to a platform in order to maximize profits through passive viewing of content. This business model is particularly serious in this election year and could lead to political unrest. The second problem is compounded by the personal data market which has exploited people’s time and data by creating profiles that enable targeted advertising and, ultimately, control the information people are fed. .
But what can we do about it? Berners-Lee’s proposal: “We need to break down data silos to encourage collaboration, create market conditions in which different options fuel creativity, and move us away from polarizing content toward an environment shaped by a diversity of voices and perspectives, which nourish empathy and understanding.”
Putting people before business models
More specifically, this can be done by adopting a new paradigm that places people before business models. This is not just an ideal; this is already becoming a reality. The technologies that serve us and empower us, like the new social media models Bluesky and Mastodon, do not thrive on advertising and corporate engagement, but create communities. GitHub provides online collaboration tools and podcasts that contribute to community knowledge.
“It is time to act and harness this transformative potential,” concluded Mr Berners-Lee.
Another part of the answer to web reform is the Solid Protocol. This specification allows everyone to have their own online data store (POD – personal online data). “With Solid,” explains Berners-Lee, “individuals decide how their data is managed, used and shared. This approach has already started to take root, as we can see in Flanders (Belgium), where every citizen now has of its own POD. The purpose of PODs is to give us control over our personal data.
Can techno-idealism become reality? I doubt it, but we can try
Solid is backed by Berners-Lee’s company, Inrupt. Under its umbrella, Solid is expected to enable the web to include identity management, access control and universal data standards. It will decouple data from applications controlled by companies so that data is organized and managed based on individuals.
He knows it’s easier said than done. “We need to support the people who are leading the reform. We need to amplify and promote positive use cases and strive to shift the collective mindset of the world’s citizens. The Web Foundation has and will continue to support and to accelerate this emerging system and the people behind it. However, there is an urgent need for others to do the same, to support morally courageous leaders, to collectivize their solutions, and to overturn the online world driven by profit into a world driven by the needs of humanity.”
Can techno-idealism become reality? I doubt it, but we can try. This is what Berners-Lee strives to do. He transformed the world once, and maybe together we can transform it for the better once again.
Source: “ZDNet.com”