Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web 30 years ago with a very different vision for global connectivity to what has materialized so far.
The world wide web: from utopian to dystopian
The foundations of World Wide Web were developed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee as part of his work at the at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, Switzerland in 1989. The internet had existed since the 1960s, being used by scientists in the United States to share information. By the 1980s there were a number of software systems to transfer documents over the internet. Working to improve communications capabilities in CERN, during 1989 and 1990 at CERN, Berners-Lee developed the foundations for HTML - the mark-up language for the web, URL – the unique identifier to locate web resources, and HTTP to enable the retrieval of web resources (World Wide Web Foundation, 2019).
What made the software developed by Berners-Lee fundamentally different to the others information systems being used on the internet was that the code was released by CERN for free, for anyone to use. Berners-Lee and others believed that to realise its potential the World Wide Web should be considered a public good, rather than being patented or gated. Berners-Lee did not directly profit from his invention and anyone with a computer and an internet connection has been able to access the World Wide Web’s content and create their own.
Similar to the underlying aspirations of Berners-Lee and those that lobbied for open access to the Web, early adopters were somewhat utopian. They believed that this new technology would be the basis of new social possibilities. American counterculture in particular embraced networked computing as a means to enable an ideal society: decentralized, egalitarian, harmonious and free (Turner, 2006).
The internet soon morphed from a countercultural and hobbyist enclave to a global community of users and prerequisite for economic prosperity. With mass adoption it has been the new frontier for commerce and business model innovation. The web’s accessibility and openness has enabled an age of abundance where any interest, need or desire can be found or commodified (Anderson, 2007).
With unprecedented human connectivity, access to knowledge and innumerable day-to-day conveniences, the Web also has a dark side characterised by lack of transparency, the exploitation of user’s data, manipulation of human behaviour, misinformation and enabling a plethora of illegal activities. In many countries, most notably China, access to the World Wide Web is censored by government in order to block citizens access to information inconsistent with the political agenda (i.a. refer to The Guardian’s Internet + Censorship series 2019).
Instead of being the utopia people hoped for, a place of difference that does not exist in reality, the web serves as a reflection of ourselves and the societies that we live. The internet mirrors our preferences, values and aspirations, showing the best and worst of human nature. Of greater concern still is that the web is becoming a dystopian engine fueled by data that is not merely reflecting, but changing the human experience to serve corporate profit. As warned by Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells, although communication has been decentralised, data has been monopolised. Current structures of power will create an internet of things that mirrors our past behaviour all around us and prompts us to be merely a reflection of ourselves for the rest of our lives (Castelles, 2018).
For a better web and digital innovation
In light of the direction his invention has taken, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is now taking part in initiatives to reclaim the internet as an open platform serving purposes that benefit rather than harm humanity.
At the global Web Summit in Lisbon late last year Berners-Lee launched the World Wide Web Foundation’s #FortheWeb initiative. The World Wide Web Foundation was founded in 2009 to protect human rights across the digital landscape. Now with over half of the world's population being online For the Web reflects amplified efforts to incite public debate and engagement into internet governance and grassroots web decentralisation projects. #FortheWeb aims to generate momentum for a global movement to counter the concentration of power on the web. It aims to propel “governments, companies and the public to stand up for a free, open and safe web that benefits everyone” (For the Web Foundation, 2019).
Berners-Lee is also working on Solid, a project which will enable internet users to securely store and control their personal data through a data ‘POD’. It will provide a way for individuals to allow access to their data on an as needs basis, rather than (often unknowingly) providing hordes of data to different companies who then have control over it. The platform is currently only accessible to developers, but is being made into a user-friendly version.
SOLID is aligned with a broader responsible data movement opposing data collection practices by companies who often use data for purposes without consent to extract value from users. Advocacy ranges from calling for data to be treated as a public good, ownership of one’s data to be considered a human right, and seeking policy frameworks that will establish ethical principles and even requirements for data sharing (Taylor, 2016, Kirkpatrick in Garcia, 2018).
Echoing these grassroots efforts, the nature of the World Wide Web today is also a concern for institutions established to ensure global peace and prosperity. Several of the World Economic Forum’s principles to ensure a sustainable, inclusive and trustworthy digital economy and society are central themes to internet debates. Especially pertinent to current dilemmas surrounding the emergence internet-based oligopolies in the United States and China, the World Economic Forum calls for (World Economic Forum, 2018):
Business, government and society leaders to act responsibly and competently to usher in a sustainable digital transformation,
To enable people to access and use inclusive, trusted digital identity regimes that enhance their social and economic wellbeing, and;
To enable individuals and institutions to share data in ways that create social and economic value while respecting the privacy of fellow digital citizens.
Although our internet society is far from reflecting the tenets above, we must remember that the global adoption of World Wide Web is still in its formative years. Technological innovations for connectivity as well as new mediums will continue to emerge. If social and ethical considerations are part of development, design and implementation processes to come, or even drive them (as was the original thinking behind the Web), then there is opportunity and even likelihood for course correction. Then new human oriented technological solutions and platforms that enrich rather than diminish the social fabric of societies can be realised.
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