Contract for the Web

• Tim Berners-Lee is the man who created HTML
• HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language
• It is the format that is used to create web pages
• You might say Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web
• He did this to allow the free exchange of information
• In the early days of the web things looked good
• It looked like the web would change the world for the better
• Now it is debatable whether the web does more harm than good
• Bigots use the web and its platforms to spread hatred
• Foreign governments spread lies to undermine our democracy
• Crackpot ideas proliferate
  • The earth is flat
  • Vaccines cause autism
• All this has been hard for Tim Berner-Lee to watch
• He wanted to rescue the web from what it had become
• So he launched an initiative called the Contract for the Web
• It is the result of conversations over many months
• With people in government, academia, and not-profits
• Here are it's fundamental principles
  • Everyone should be able to connect to the Internet
  • Keep all of the Internet available, all of the time
  • Respect and protect people's fundamental online privacy and data rights
  • Make the Internet affordable and accessible to everyone
  • Respect and protect people's privacy and personal data to build online trust
  • Develop technologies that support the best in humanity and challenge the worst
  • Be creators and collaborators on the Web
  • Build strong communities that respect civil discourse and human dignity
  • Fight for the Web
• Tim has asked all of us to endorse the Contract
• I have done this on the Contract for the Web site
• I would urge all of you to do so too
• Rescuing the web will take some time
• But all of us must do what we can to make the web a better place
• If you are not part of the solution
• You are part of the problem