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In the eyes of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, credited with creating the world wide web, his invention is broken. To repair it, he released a Contract for the Web. That contract consists of a set of rules and guidelines to save the Internet.

According to Berners-Lee, the web today faces multiple challenges. Think of political manipulation, fake news and invasion of privacy. The Contract for the Web is intended to encourage companies, governments and individuals to take action and remedy the problems, writes ITPro.

The Contract for the Web was drawn up in one year in collaboration with eighty organisations. The now completed contract consists of nine principles that affiliated parties must adhere to. More than 150 organisations have already joined the contract, including Microsoft, GitHub, Reddit, Google and Facebook.

If companies are to remain on the list, they must be able to demonstrate consistently that they are actively developing and implementing solutions to meet the challenges that threaten the Internet.

The principles

The principles have been drawn up for governments, companies and individuals. For each group, three pieces have been drawn up, which are mutually compatible. For example, governments must ensure an open internet for everyone and respect the right to online privacy.

According to the principles, the private sector must ensure that the internet is affordable and accessible to everyone. In addition, companies must respect the privacy of users and their personal data. Technologies must also be developed to support the best of mankind and counteract the worst.

Individuals, in turn, are encouraged to actively contribute and collaborate on the web. They are also called upon to build strong and respectful communities, and ultimately to fight for an open internet.

Few details about control

As mentioned before, Berners-Lee wants to ensure that member organisations and entities comply with the principles and actively work on solutions to address problems. However, it is not known exactly how this check is to be carried out.