World Wide Web Turns 30: Celebrations and Challenges
Tim Berners-Lee's proposal for the World Wide Web at CERN in March 1989 led to a global communication revolution. The Web's 30th anniversary is marked by events starting March 12 at CERN, including Web@30 with Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau, and CERN director Fabiola Giannotti. Celebrations continue in Meyrin, London, and Lagos, streamed online. An emulator recreates the 1990 NeXT browser experience. Berners-Lee now warns the Web has been hijacked by scammers, citing disinformation and privacy loss. He launched Contract for the Web, an ethical code, and Solid, a data-control platform developed at MIT. The Web's origins lie in ethical principles of sharing and openness, but corporate colonization by Google, Facebook, and Amazon has eroded these values, leading to scandals like Cambridge Analytica.
Key facts
- Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web in March 1989 at CERN in Geneva.
- The first formal document was 'WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project' in 1990.
- Web@30 event on March 12 at CERN features Berners-Lee, Cailliau, and Fabiola Giannotti.
- Celebrations span 30 hours across Meyrin, London, and Lagos, streamed on CERN's site.
- An online emulator recreates the 1990 NeXT web browser.
- Berners-Lee says the Web has been 'hijacked by scammers' with disinformation and privacy loss.
- Contract for the Web is an ethical code for a neutral, independent web.
- Solid is a platform for user data control, developed at MIT.
Entities
Artists
- Tim Berners-Lee
- Robert Cailliau
- Fabiola Giannotti
- Valentina Tanni
Institutions
- CERN
- Washington Post
- MIT
- Amazon
- Cambridge Analytica
- Artribune
- Politecnico di Milano
- Naba
Locations
- Geneva
- Switzerland
- Meyrin
- London
- United Kingdom
- Lagos
- Nigeria
- Boston
- United States