The creator of the World Wide Web has a plan for a better global network, but he needs help

According to foreign media CNET, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the World Wide Web, formulated a global plan on Monday and called for action to protect the future of the Internet and prevent humanity from falling into a digital "dystopia." Berners-Lee first announced the plan at the Web Summit in Lisbon in 2018. The plan was developed in conjunction with governments, businesses and citizens over the past year.

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The purpose of the Contract for the Web is to prevent the widening of the digital divide and combat the worst aspects of the web to strengthen and protect future generations. Just as the creation of the Contract was an open source process in which all of the web’s stakeholders participated, the Contract is designed to be equally enforced by companies, politicians, and everyday Internet users around the world.

“The power of the web to transform people’s lives, enrich societies and reduce inequalities is one of the defining opportunities of our time,” Berners-Lee said in a statement. “But if we don’t act now — together — to prevent the web from being abused by those who want to exploit, divide and destroy, we risk squandering this potential.”

The compact is built around nine key principles that broadly cover many of the issues that affect the web, from data misuse to internet shutdowns. These are further divided into three categories, each for governments, companies, and citizens. They are as follows:

For the Government

Make sure everyone can connect to the network

Keep the Internet accessible to everyone at all times

Respect and protect people’s online privacy and data protection rights

For Companies

Making the Internet affordable for all

Respect and protect people’s privacy and personal data

Develop technologies that encourage the best in humanity and challenge the worst

For Citizens

Become a network creator and collaborator

Building strong communities that respect civil discourse and human dignity

Fighting for an open network

These principles may seem repetitive, but the difference lies in the way they are adhered to. Take the rights to privacy and data protection: for governments, respecting and protecting these rights means enacting regulations and monitoring abuses, and ensuring that activities carried out in the name of fighting crime or protecting national security are proportionate. But for companies, respecting and protecting data rights and privacy may mean changing the tools, capabilities, and policies built into their business models.

Other principles, like what it means to be a creator and collaborator or to develop technology that benefits humanity, are more open to interpretation and debate. But encouraging people to think about what they mean is a key part of what Berners-Lee wants. “It’s up to all of us to fight for the web we want,” he said.