Happy birthday, World Wide Web! On 25th anniversary, inventor calls for action to ensure freedom online

British inventor Tim Berners-Lee calls on users to shape internet's future

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British inventor of the World Wide Web, Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, receiving an honorary degree from St Andrews University, in September 2013. Photo: EPA

Published: 11:45am, 12 Mar 2014Updated: 2:07pm, 12 Mar 2014

As the world marks the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web today, its inventor is calling on more people to take action this year to keep the online resource open, global, accessible and free of censorship.

British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee, who first proposed the Web in March 1989, said in a statement today: “If we want a Web that is truly for everyone, then everyone must play a role in shaping its next 25 years.”

Leading that initiative will be the World Wide Web Foundation and standards body the World Wide Web Consortium, the two organisations which Berners-Lee founded and help run.

He called on people to sign up and join the “Web We Want Campaign” at webwewant.org. Co-organised by the Web Foundation, the campaign provides information on how people can participate in events and actions in their respective countries or communities to defend users’ rights on the Web.

“The Web’s billions of users are what have made it great,” said Berners-Lee, citing the theme of his famous tweet during the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, “This is for Everyone”.

Anne Jellema, the chief executive at the Web Foundation, told the South China Morning Post this morning that the new Web campaign’s goal is “to see digital Bills of Rights put in place in each country around the world”.

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