Founder of the world wide web launches campaign to save the modern internet

Tim Berners-Lee wants a “Magna Carta for the web”.

Tim Berners-Lee has watched his creation become an abusive platform with the spread of fake news, hate speech and political manipulation. Now he’s launched a global campaign to save the internet. At the opening of the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, recently, Berners-Lee has asked governments, tech companies and the public to sign a “contract for the web” to ensure people’s rights and freedoms are protected online. The contract, published on the World Wide Web Foundation website, has already been signed by more than 50 organisations and calls for immediate action.

Dubbed the “Magna Carta for the web”, the document requires governments to ensure its citizens have access to the internet at all times “freely, safely and without fear”. It also asks tech companies to make the internet affordable to everyone, while respecting consumer privacy and personal data. The contract also calls for companies developing new technologies to ensure the internet is “a public good that puts people first”.

Berners-Lee admits that it will be hard to quantify the success of this campaign, but is confident it will lead to conversations between governments and firms, and “put the power back in the hands of the people”.