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Tim Berners-Lee Launches Campaign To Save the Web From Abuse (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the Magna-Carta-for-the-web dept.

Tim Berners-Lee has launched a global campaign to save the web from the destructive effects of abuse and discrimination, political manipulation, and other threats that plague the online world. A report adds: In a talk at the opening of the Web Summit in Lisbon on Monday, the inventor of the web called on governments, companies and individuals to back a new "Contract for the Web" that aims to protect people's rights and freedoms on the internet. The contract outlines central principles that will be built into a full contract and published in May 2019, when half of the world's population will be able to get online. More than 50 organisations have already signed the contract, which is published by Berners-Lee's World Wide Web Foundation alongside a report that calls for urgent action.

"For many years there was a feeling that the wonderful things on the web were going to dominate and we'd have a world with less conflict, more understanding, more and better science, and good democracy," Berners-Lee told the Guardian. "But people have become disillusioned because of all the things they see in the headlines. Humanity connected by technology on the web is functioning in a dystopian way. We have online abuse, prejudice, bias, polarisation, fake news, there are lots of ways in which it is broken. This is a contract to make the web one which serves humanity, science, knowledge and democracy." Under the principles laid out in the document, which Berners-Lee calls a "Magna Carta for the web", governments must ensure that its citizens have access to all of the internet, all of the time, and that their privacy is respected so they can be online "freely, safely and without fear." Berners-Lee, added, "We're at a 50/50 moment for the web. We've created something amazing together, but half the world is still not online, and our online rights and freedoms are at risk. The web has done so much for us, but now we need to stand up #ForTheWeb." You can watch his talk here (skip the first 10 minutes).

18 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. Frost whis by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

    My first wish is for you to get back in that bottle. My second is for you to stay there.

    Doesn't matter what the third one is - it's as likely to come true as the others.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  2. "It" is the people, not the system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Computers are amplifiers of humanity, be the manifestation stupidity, racism, abuse, meanness, kindness, charity, good-heartedness, etc. You name it. The problem isn't the internet, the problem is certain types of people. PEOPLE use the internet. Berners-Lee means well and that is a good start, but he is hacking at the branches of a tree that we would all like to cut down. The quotes sound like is equating fixing the internet with fixing people. Not gonna happen that way.

  3. free speech or PC speech by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You really can't have both. Don't believe me? Consider how easily some are offended. You have a choice of not trying to offend anyone, a fools errand, or pushing ahead and offending someone. It all sounds good to 'not be a jerk' but how do topics like illegal immigration get honestly discussed in a PC way. That's the trouble with PC efforts, they ignore or try and re-label reality and reality doesn't bend. If an immigrant is here illegally then they are by definition an illegal immigrant. The euphemism of undocumented immigrant is not helpful and just muddies the water. Is stealing theft or merely an undocumented purchase? I'm a fan of not being a jerk but I'm also a fan of honest discussion and not simply seeking to deplatform those you disagree with.

    1. Re:free speech or PC speech by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Excellent points! I would also add:

      * Who defines what is offensive?
      * What is or isn't offensive? (The person receiving it??)

      Also what if someone is offended by the truth (such as China's retarded ban on the number 64 -- a reference to the 1989 Tiananmen Square murder -- does national Law trump Censorship ?

    2. Re:free speech or PC speech by ewibble · · Score: 2

      I think the discussion needs to be based on truthfulness not inoffensiveness. Saying illegal immigrants should not be here because they are illegal is fine. Saying they should not be here because they are murders, or lazy, needs evidence that they are more so than the currently population. I think we need more evidence based discussion not just people stating random opinions, or give examples, sure there are examples of migrant workers being murders, there are also examples locals as well.

    3. Re:free speech or PC speech by boundary · · Score: 2

      Hear, hear. And with organisations like Google and Facebook backing it, it's clear which way it will end up. We need a proper digital bill of rights. This ain't it.

    4. Re:free speech or PC speech by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think the discussion needs to be based on truthfulness not inoffensiveness. Saying illegal immigrants should not be here because they are illegal is fine. Saying they should not be here because they are murders, or lazy, needs evidence that they are more so than the currently population. I think we need more evidence based discussion not just people stating random opinions, or give examples, sure there are examples of migrant workers being murders, there are also examples locals as well.

      All the examples of PC speech I can think of are attempts at dodging the truth or smearing someone with negative labels for stating the truth (ie Nazi, racist, etc). If people had the truth on their side in the first place 'PC' wouldn't be needed.

    5. Re:free speech or PC speech by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think that, in addition to freedom of speech, the right to offend should be a human right and/or enshrined in our constitutions. Not that it is ever nice to offend, nor good. But it has become so easy to be offended, and that if that becomes the yardstick of free speech, soon we will not be able to say anything. In addition, rules and laws against giving offense are misused to silence opponents, stifle political debates, and enable religious persecution. In many countries, there is freedom of speech with a big fat "except" attached to it, meaning that one should not offend certain sensibilities. And in many, many cases where that rule is actually enforced, it is being misused, not against offense, but against undesirable opinions.

      Give us the right to offend. Not because we want to offend. But to ensure that no one can silence us simply by claiming to be offended.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    6. Re:free speech or PC speech by Stolovaya · · Score: 3, Informative

      I can't tell if you're an extremist that has blinders on, or you're a troll trying to rile people up. Your response only lends more weight to liquid_schwartz's point.

      Someone being here illegally is not dependent on their skin color. You haven't show anything to explain how liquid_schwartz's post is racist; you saw something you didn't like, and so you tried to shut it down by yelling "racist". That only works so many times (see: the boy that cried wolf). Stop belittling that word.

      That's great that you care about immigrants. Doing what you did doesn't help anything, and only causes further problems.

      You're a part of the problem, not a solution. You should really think about trying to turn that around.

  4. Step 1: Tim Berners-Lee stop what you're doing by aicrules · · Score: 2

    Step 2: Internet proceed as usual

    You may act like you're here to save the day Tim, but intelligent people know better. Keep your personal political bullshit out of it and go find a new hobby.

  5. Hmm by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Under the principles laid out in the document, which Berners-Lee calls a "Magna Carta for the web", governments must ensure that its citizens have access to all of the internet, all of the time, and that their privacy is respected so they can be online "freely, safely and without fear."

    Does that include people who get "de-platformed"?

    Yes, I know that wasn't done by government ...but hmm, lookie here:

    Companies will
    Make the internet affordable and accessible to everyone
    So that no one is excluded from using and shaping the web.

    But it seems that the de-platformed are excluded from "shaping" it ...

  6. Re:What does ze mean exactly? by sdinfoserv · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The notion of "hate speech" is nonsensical in a Country with true freedom of speech. There is a difference between speech and promoting criminal acts. Unfortunately, we in the US of given up rational thought and are no longer able to tell the difference.

  7. The right to offend is the right to free speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > "and without fear"

    Is impossible because people are afraid of stupid shit. Specifically they are afraid of other's speech.

    > prejudice, bias, polarisation, fake news,

    Being able to express any/all of those is a freedom. Specifically the Freedom of Speech. Trying to disallow those is oppression and censorship. Freedom of Speech only exists if you are free to be rude, hateful, offensive, lie, spread misinformation, and express unpopular opinions. There are, of course, limits already covered by laws. Slander, inciting violence, fraud and many others. But, fundamentally, if you lack the right to offend you lack the right to free speech.

  8. Definitions by sinij · · Score: 2

    For me, saving the Web from abuse would be to put further measures to guarantee free speech flourishes. This includes criticizing and ridiculing useful idiots like Tim Berners-Lee that would happily see us march into totalitarianism. Make no mistake, web free of offensive content is web that is censored to suppress all dissent, all calls for societal change, all nonconformity.

  9. Re:Fuck TBL. by Kielistic · · Score: 4, Funny

    Your nose does not exist on the internet.

  10. Good luck with that by scdeimos · · Score: 2

    In case you haven't noticed the print and video media innundate us with negative and politically motivated stories every hour of every day. I don't see how the internet is going to become any more saintly than the real world we all live in.

  11. Unrealistic expectations by argStyopa · · Score: 2

    "For many years there was a feeling that the wonderful things on the web were going to dominate and we'd have a world with less conflict, more understanding, more and better science, and good democracy,"

    Maybe that was just a dumb idea that came from a place of utter ignorance, like when you're a little kid and believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny?

    Simply having that idea doesn't mean it was ever likely to happen.

    --
    -Styopa
  12. Re:Fuck TBL. by Immerman · · Score: 2

    Why is free speech in the very first amendment in the bill of rights? Because it is the most powerful, the most dangerous to government, and thus the most necessary to be protected. Guns are important in overthrowing tyranny, but without the speech to impassion people to fight and die over an ideal, they're not worth a damned thing.

    Words hold awesome power to reshape the world - little else ever has. Those who claim free speech as an important bastion democracy, while belittling its power to cause harm, are guilty of blatant hypocrisy.

    --
    --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.