At 35, the web is broken, but its inventor hasn’t given up hope of fixing it yet

In 1989, the Internet was already years old, but it was nothing like what it is today. The Internet we use today owes much of its appearance to Sir Tim Berners-Lee and his creation, the World Wide Web. The launch of the website dates back 35 years, to Berners-Lee’s article, Information management: a proposal.

Berners-Lee didn’t set out to change the world. He simply wanted to create a simple way to share information at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, popularly known as CERN. Their solution was a hypertext system distributed over the Internet. We know it as the web.

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It took several years to go from an idea on paper to a working system. In 1993, the web was a going concern. When I became the first person to write a popular introduction to the webThere were only two web servers.

When I wrote the book Inside the World Wide Web By 1994, the Internet had exploded in popularity. It went from being something that only technicians used to the foundation of today’s ubiquitous web. Everyone wanted to be on the Internet.

As Berners-Lee said in 2024, the web was built with “the intention of enabling collaboration, fostering compassion, and generating creativity, what I call the 3 Cs.” It would be a tool to empower humanity. The first decade of the web delivered on that promise: the web was decentralized with a long list of content and options, created smaller, more localized communities, provided individual empowerment, and fostered enormous value.”

Berners-Lee continued: “Over the last decade, rather than embodying these values, the web has contributed to eroding them.” He attributes it to the “dysfunction caused by the domination of the web by the self-interest of various corporations.”

You can see it for yourself. In the early days of the web, numerous new companies emerged in the fertile soil of the Internet. Today, both the Internet and the stock market are dominated by Meta (Facebook), Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet (Google), also known as “MAMAA”. You can also review the old FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) to the new FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, NVIDIA and Google). No matter what you call it, this is an Internet economy that belongs to the big powers, not the small startups.

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Berners-Lee recognized, on the 30th birthday of his creation, that the web became “a public squarea library, a doctor’s office, a store, a school, a design studio, an office, a movie theater, a bank and much more.” Unfortunately, he noted, “it has also created opportunities for scammers, giving a voice to those who They spread hate and make all kinds of crimes easier to commit.” The ugly side of the web can be easily seen with a quick look at social networks like X, formerly Twitter; Reddit; and Nextdoor.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has not helped. In fact, Berners-Lee believes AI has only made things worse. “The rapid advancement of AI has exacerbated these concerns, demonstrating that problems on the web are not isolated but rather deeply intertwined with emerging technologies.”

Still, Berners-Lee hopes for better. “It would be defeatist and unimaginative to assume that the grid as we know it cannot be improved in the next 30 years.”

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As? Addressing two problems, he points out:

The first is the extent of the concentration of power, which contradicts the decentralized spirit I originally envisioned. This has segmented the web, with a struggle to keep users hooked to a platform to optimize earnings through passive viewing of content. This exploitative business model is particularly serious in this election year that could trigger political unrest. Adding to this problem is the second, the personal data market that has exploited people’s time and data with the creation of deep profiles that allow targeted advertising and, ultimately, control over the information people receive.

But what can we do about it? Berners-Lee’s proposal: “We must break down data silos to foster collaboration, create market conditions in which a diversity of options thrives to fuel creativity, and move away from polarizing content towards an environment shaped by a diversity of voices and perspectives that foster empathy and understanding.”

Specifically, this can be achieved by adopting a new paradigm that puts individuals ahead of business models. This is not just an ideal; It is already becoming a reality. The technologies that serve and empower us all, like the new social media models Bluesky and Mastodon, are not fueled by advertising or business engagement, but they still create communities. GitHub provides online collaboration tools and podcasts that contribute to community knowledge.

“Now is the time to act and harness this transformative potential,” Berners-Lee concluded.

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Another part of the response to web reform is Solid protocol. This specification provides everyone with their own personal online data store (POD). “With Solid,” Berners-Lee explained, “individuals decide how their data is managed, used and shared. This approach has already started to take root, as seen in Flanders, where each citizen now has their own POD.” The whole point of the game with PODs is to put us, and not corporations, in control of our personal data.

Solid is supported by the Berners-Lee company, burst. Under his direction, the plan is for Solid to enable the web to include identity management, access control and universal data standards. It will decouple data from applications controlled by companies so that data is organized and managed around individuals.

You know it’s easier said than done. “It requires support for the people leading reform, from researchers to inventors to advocates. We must amplify and promote these positive use cases, and work to change the collective mindset of global citizens. The Web Foundation has and will continue to support and accelerate this emerging system and the people who support it. However, there is an urgent need for others to do the same, support the morally courageous leadership that is emerging, collectivize their solutions and turn the online world dictated by profits into one dictated by the needs of humanity.”

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Can technoidealism become a reality? I have my doubts, but we can try. That’s what Berners-Lee is looking for. He transformed the world once, and maybe together we can transform it for the better once again.