Web founder: dominant internet platforms inhibit innovation

Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web, has given his vision in a letter in honor of the 29th anniversary of the web. He warns that the dominance of large internet platforms can act as a brake on innovation.

In the latest of his letters, which he writes more often, the computer scientist writes that his current publication focuses on how we can create a web that is ‘worth having’. He asks this question because more than half of the world’s population is now online. In the letter, he writes: “The web that many connected to years ago is no longer the web that new users will now encounter. What was once a vast selection of blogs and websites has now been weighed down under the heavy weight of a few dominant platform.”

He also sees a threat to innovation in this, because these platforms can create barriers for competitors. For example, by buying start-ups and innovations and hiring the best people. Together with the competitive advantage these companies can derive from their large amounts of user data, this could mean that the next 20 years will be less innovative than the last 20 years, Berners-Lee said. He writes, “The concentration of power creates a new breed of gatekeepers, allowing a handful of platforms to determine what ideas and opinions are seen and shared.”

Berners-Lee continues that these platforms are also being looked at for solutions. They come up with solutions, but they are still companies ‘created to make a profit and not to promote social well-being’. He suggests that rules may be needed that take into account social objectives and that can alleviate current tensions.

In his letter, he further elaborates on the need to reduce the digital divide that arises between people who do have access to the internet and those who do not. In addition, we should get rid of the illusion that advertising is the only way to make money online and that it is impossible to change current platforms.