The Father Of Worldwide Web Wants Safer, More Accessible Internet For Everyone

After allegations of cybercrime and theft of data on the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee has called on governments, citizens and companies to come up with a complete privacy agreement. This makes the Internet more reliable, secure and accessible for everyone in May of next year.

Web developers around the world gathered on Monday when the Internet creator called for a "contract" to make the Internet more orderly, safer for users. Earlier, the spread of "fake news" at Europe's largest technology event in Lisbon has left many angry.

This year, the four-day Web Summit called "the Davos for geeks" is expected to have about 70,000 participants. Including the presence of politicians, emerging companies and leading technology companies, speakers, etc.

Web Summit

While technology companies seek to defend their allegations, critics blame the lack of responsibility and lack of capacity to ensure the security and control of the spread of "fake news". That incident affected the imbalance in worldwide election campaigns. In addition, companies are accused of using data about users' browsing habits to maximize profits.

Tim Berners-Lee is a British computer scientist, in 1989 he invented the world wide web as a platform used for information exchange. He said the Internet today was far from the initial goal set by its creator.

Tim Berners-Lee

In his opening address, Berners said everything has gone wrong as we now face privacy problems, data collection, and manipulation.

Berners - Lee, despite his 63 years of age, called on companies, citizens and governments to agree on a "complete contract" for the site that will help stabilize the Internet for more accessible and secure use before May 2019 - the day that 50% of the world's population will go online for the first time.

Berners-Lee has just introduced Inrupt, a startup company planning to build Solid, an open-source platform. The system will then decentralize the web, letting users decide where to keep their data and who will be able to view and get access to it.

Solid has the ability to let users bypass Facebook and Google as well as other giant tech firms. The two largest technology companies in the world now have a direct impact on nearly 75% of internet users because of the services and applications they own, including WhatsApp, Youtube, and Instagram.

Many employees of larger tech companies including Facebook and Google have expressed their regret over the products they contributed to, which cause addiction and do harm to society.

Technology giants are also criticized for building virtual monopolies within their reach. Google, for example, accounts for 92 percent of all Internet search advertising spending in Europe, and Amazon makes up 93 percent of e-book sales.

Paddy Cosgrave, founder and CEO of Web Summit, told AFP that he thinks technology is experiencing a funk, now it's the time of reflection.

He also added these cycles are something we have to undergo in all new technologies.

The number of supporters increases every day

Christopher Wylie - one of the people expected to speak at the upcoming event, said Facebook user data was used to help Donald Trump's US election by British political consulting firm - Cambridge Analytica. Although this statement was rejected by the company.

Ev Williams, a co-founder of Twitter, has got critical of this field, will make the closing speech.

Twitter co-founder Ev Williams

According to Mitchell Baker, president of the Mozilla Foundation, a not-for-profit organization focusing on innovating the Internet, Internet users now pay more attention to negative contents, thus they get more advertisers.

Mitchell Baker - president of the Mozilla Foundation

In a recent interview, she told AFP that nowadays, everyone has the chance to raise their voice, but it is likely that the most violent and the loudest ones are often enlarged as we tend to concentrate on the scariest and most negative things.