Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee unveils plan to save the internet

Thirty years after he invented the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee has released what he calls a “roadmap to build a better web.” His plan aims to halt abuse of the internet by governments, companies, and individuals.

Tim Berners-Lee, a British engineer credited with having invented the World Wide Web in 1989, has released an ambitious plan detailing steps for better online governance, addressing problems like misinformation, data surveillance and censorship.

The Contract for the Web was created by Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web Foundation in cooperation with representatives from governments, companies and civil society to “keep knowledge freely available,” while strengthening laws, regulations and companies “to ensure the pursuit of profit is not at the expense of human rights and democracy.”

“If we don’t act now — and act together — to prevent the web being misused by those who want to exploit, divide and undermine, we are at risk of squandering” its potential for good, Berners-Lee said in a statement released by the WWW Foundation on Monday.