We have a duty to use the web responsibly
Last week marked a key anniversary in the history of the modern world. It was observed by beard-stroking deep thinkers who listen to Radio 4 around the clock but did you celebrate it?
You should’ve done as this birthday marked the invention of something that has changed the lives of the vast majority of us. I am, of course, banging on about it now being 30 years since the idea for the World Wide Web was first conceived.
The man responsible for this innovation is Sir Tim Berners-Lee and he is somebody who everybody should be thanking for the difference that he has made to our lives. It is thanks to him that almost nobody uses desk spikes anymore or that strangers no longer need to meet up underneath the clock at mainline railway stations. Sir Tim is rightly lauded for the genius of his achievements but he is also acutely aware of the unintended consequences. Last week he told reporters that as well as giving “marginalised groups a voice” and generally making our lives easier, the web had enabled the “spread of hatred” and made “all sorts of crime easier to commit”. He is also working on a solution to the problem of companies using our data how they please.
He says that there is lots of work to be done before these problems can be fixed but believes one solution is for users to agree to a contract, effectively establishing global online laws and standards. Who can argue with him? The web has long been described as a digital Wild West and, although there is some regulation, it appears that anything goes. Last week the world bore witness to the horrors of the Christchurch terror attacks, which were broadcast on social media by the alleged perpetrator. If that was not horrific enough, thousands of social media users thought it perfectly okay to share the footage on their timelines. While these platforms did remove the video, it was still reasonably easy to find later.
Big tech companies are home to some of the brightest minds on the planet but can only play catch-up in situations like these. It doesn’t really make any sense to this social media user. Nor does it make sense that there are so many unpleasant people allowed to peddle their unpleasant thoughts with very little consequence. There was a time when sending a poison pen letter required effort to pull off, which is why they weren’t common, but these days online trolls can spread their bile in seconds. When Sir Tim first drew up his first plans for a network that would be used to share ideas, he could not have envisaged how this concept would evolve and, in some cases, be abused. It is absolutely right that we celebrate the web and the difference it has made but we all have a duty to use it more responsibly than we do.