Editorial | A safe and open web all comes down to getting balance right

There was the internet long before the World Wide Web. But 30 years ago, physicist Tim Berners-Lee came up with the idea that texts, sounds, images and anything that could be digitalised could be woven together on a single platform and shared universally by anyone with access to a computer.

We have been privileged to have lived through this revolutionary moment, which is comparable to Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press.

It has helped migrate so many human activities – from commerce to communication, from entertainment and education to banking and bill payment – onto the internet while enhancing their efficiency, productivity and capacity.

It was not a coincidence that the last great wave of globalisation took place with the worldwide spread of the web, creating enormous wealth and pulling hundreds of millions out of poverty, especially in China.

But more recently, the utopian vision of its creator has given way to pessimism about the direction the internet has taken us. Every computer connected to the internet is potentially exposed to endless varieties of malware and viruses.

Information channels are filled with misinformation, hate speech and propaganda. Democratic elections, in the United States and elsewhere, have been hacked and manipulated. Social media giants treat our personal data as a commodity to be bought and sold to anyone who can pay for it.