Tim Berners-Lee: we must regulate tech firms to prevent 'weaponised' web -- The inventor of the world wide web warns over concentration of power among a few companies ‘controlling which ideas are shared’

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 74%. (I'm a bot)

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, has called for large technology firms to be regulated to prevent the web from being "Weaponised at scale".

"In recent years, we've seen conspiracy theories trend on social media platforms, fake Twitter and Facebook accounts stoke social tensions, external actors interfere in elections, and criminals steal troves of personal data," Berners-Lee wrote in an open letter marking the 29th anniversary of his invention.

Facebook has more than 2.2 billion monthly active users - more than 20 times more than MySpace at its peak.

Berners-Lee warned of "Two myths" that "Limit our collective imagination" when looking for solutions to the problems facing the web: "The myth that advertising is the only possible business model for online companies, and the myth that it's too late to change the way platforms operate. On both points we need to be a little more creative," he said.

The open letter coincides with a significant milestone: 2018 is the first year that more than half of the world's population will be online.

His vision to create an "Open platform that allows anyone to share information, access opportunities and collaborate across geographical boundaries" has been challenged as the web has become more centralised.

Summary Source | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: more^#1 platform^#2 Berners-Lee^#3 web^#4 online^#5

Post found in /r/technology, /r/worldnews, /r/ukpolitics, /r/Tronix, /r/theworldnews, /r/NonPoliticalNews, /r/1984isreality, /r/DescentIntoTyranny, /r/new_right, /r/Libertarian, /r/badgovnofreedom, /r/governmentoppression, /r/JustGoodNews, /r/ITGS, /r/bprogramming, /r/NoFilterNews, /r/TheNewsFeed, /r/RedditSample, /r/AutoNewspaper and /r/GUARDIANauto.

NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.