Berners-Lee, who invented the internet navigation system
known as the World Wide Web in 1989, said he sensed "a feeling out there
of restlessness, a feeling that we need to tip things over to change
them".
High-profile incidents such as a dispute between Facebook
and Australia that led to the social network blocking news feeds in the country
has led many citizens and governments to re-examine their relationships with
giant internet and social media companies.
"I'm optimistic, because we've seen some dominant fads
on the internet before ... and then things change," he said in an
interview with Reuters, adding that people were pushing back against the use
and abuse of personal data.
"(There's) great awareness that things need to
change."
He said that a combination of government policy and tech
could work together and help people regain control over their data and online
lives.
Berners-Lee, 65, is working on a project called Solid, where
people's personal data is controlled by the user, rather than platforms like
Facebook.
But in a letter to coincide with the 32nd birthday of the
World Wide Web, he warned of a growing digital divide which he said could
threaten the chances of many young people, with one in three people aged
between 15-24 globally having no access to the internet at all.
He said recognising the internet as a basic right, akin to
how electricity was seen last century, was vital, especially in a world that is
increasingly shaped by those with web access.
"The only sane thing to think is that ... things are
going to accelerate (and) continue to accelerate," he told Reuters.
"We're going through another step-change in the speed at which the world
is changing."
0 comments:
Post a Comment