In 1989, Sir Tim Berners-Lee gave the world the World Wide Web, a tool he envisioned as a platform to empower creativity and knowledge-sharing. Today, at the age of 69, he’s urging a global rethink of how it’s being used.
“The toxicity comes from the [social media] algorithms, and you can change that,” Berners-Lee told Euronews Next at the Web Summit in Lisbon.
The creator of the World Wide Web was not there to mourn what his invention has become but to call for action. The issue, he insists, is not human nature but the systems driving what we see, click, and share.
His message is clear: the Web’s problems are not insurmountable. They stem from design choices that prioritize driving more eyeballs to content (which, in turn, drives revenue) rather than fostering honest discourse.
Algorithms and Responsibility
Algorithms, according to Berners-Lee, bear much of the responsibility for amplifying the worst aspects of human behavior online. A simple coding tweak, he argues, could fundamentally shift how social media platforms operate.
“Should you blame the person who wrote [the message]? Well, maybe, but they’re actually a small part of the ecosystem.”
“Maybe you should blame the fact that the algorithm showed that tweet to 2 million people,” he explained. “The reason why you saw it isn’t that the world is toxic; it’s because that will get you to click.”
Berners-Lee has a lot of reasons to be mad about the sordid state of the open web. But even worse is the dumpster fire that we call social media. He watched in despair as his open platform morphed into a playground for disinformation, polarization, and corporate exploitation.
This observation comes amid mounting evidence of the harm caused by social media algorithms. Earlier this year Elon Musk’s platform X (formerly Twitter) amplified pro-Trump content. A study from University College London found that algorithms helped spread extreme misogynistic material into youth culture, exemplified by the rise to fame of self-confesed digital pimp Andrew Tate and others like him.
Researchers at MIT have found that fake news can spread up to 10 times faster than true reporting on social media. And when explosive, misinforming posts go viral, their corrections are never as widely viewed or believed.
For the largest tech corporations, this amplification isn’t accidental — it’s on purpose and profitable. “Shocking social media posts don’t just raise eyebrows; they raise capital,” Berners-Lee said.
But what’s his solution? Empower coders to design healthier, more constructive systems.
The stakes, he warned, are high. “If an algorithm actually polarizes people and you can show mathematically that it does, then you can regulate it.”
A Vision Revisited
When Berners-Lee first imagined the Web 35 years ago, he saw it as a neutral platform for collaboration and innovation. It was to be a place where ideas could flow freely and creativity would flourish. In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2018, he reflected on the state of the Web: “We demonstrated that the Web had failed instead of served humanity, as it was supposed to have done.”
Despite his frustrations, Berners-Lee (who never made a dime from making the Internet accessible to the masses) remains hopeful. The Web, he believes, still holds immense promise. “A lot of it is as I imagined,” he said, highlighting its role in education and creativity. But he also recognizes the risks, especially for young people navigating a digital world filled with misinformation and social pressures. “We have to find ways of giving your kids a phone which will answer all the good stuff but block all the things that polarize society.”
Prompted to find a solution to the Web’s woes, Berners-Lee launched a project called Solid. Online since 2016, Solid is a decentralized platform designed to give individuals control over their data. Instead of storing personal information across countless apps and websites, users can store it in private “Pods,” accessible only on their terms. “We can return the value that has been lost and restore control over personal data,” he explained.
Through his company, Inrupt, Berners-Lee is working to integrate Solid into systems worldwide. The technology has already been adopted in parts of Belgium and shows promise as a model for digital identity management.
Berners-Lee’s broader mission, however, extends beyond technology. He wants to preserve the Web’s democratic roots. “For people who want to make sure the Web serves humanity, we have to concern ourselves with what people are building on top of it,” he told Vanity Fair. His advocacy focuses on combating centralization, protecting human rights, and ensuring that the Web remains a force for good.
A Legacy Under Threat
Reflecting on the Web’s trajectory, Berners-Lee compares its potential to that of other transformative technologies. Like atomic energy, the Web is neither inherently good nor bad; its impact depends on how it’s used. The centralization of platforms like Facebook and Google, he says, has led to “a large-scale emergent phenomenon which is anti-human.”
But Berners-Lee isn’t giving up. For the man who created the World Wide Web, the fight to save it is personal. “My big push has always been for the enabling of human beings, of people,” he said. “Technology should work for you.”
Three decades after its creation, the Web stands at a crossroads. With leaders like Berners-Lee pushing for change, its future remains unwritten.
