World Wide Web Foundation

Mission

The Web Foundation's mission was to advance the open web as a public good and a basic right. It seeks to achieve digital equality; a world where everyone has the same rights and opportunities online.

In an open letter published in March 2018, Web Foundation founder Berners-Lee called for action to connect the 50% of the world still not online and to ensure they find a web worth connecting to.

In 2019, Web Foundation launched the initiative Contract for the Web to attempt to address issues of political manipulation, fake news, privacy violations, and other malign forces on the internet.

Organization

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Web Foundation works across 70 countries, including work through partner organizations. Its team of around 30 employees works from three main hubs in Jakarta, London and Washington, D.C.

It was also the host organization for the Alliance for Affordable Internet, a global coalition of organizations working to reduce the costs of broadband and increase access to the internet.

Research

The Web Foundation produces a number of research products including the Open Data Barometer, the Affordability Report, the Web Index and other studies and reports.

Campaigning

In November 2018, the Web Foundation launched the #ForTheWeb campaign, unveiled by founder Berners-Lee at the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon, Portugal. The campaign calls on governments, companies and citizens to commit to defending a free and open web by signing up to a Contract for the Web.

The Contract for the Web was published as a set of initial high level principles that was built into a full contract published 25 November 2019. These principles received backing from governments including Germany and France, companies such as Google, Facebook and Cloudflare, as well as a number of civil society organizations.

References

References

1. "Ways to Give".
2. Smith, Craig. [https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/fife/849597/internet-founder-sir-tim-berners-lee-to-deliver-prestigious-adam-smith-lecture-in-fife/ "Internet founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee to deliver prestigious Adam Smith Lecture in Fife"]. ''The Courier''. March 15, 2019.
3. (September 15, 2008). "Warning sounded on web's future".
4. Staff, Ars. (November 17, 2009). "Tim Berners-Lee launches "WWW Foundation" at IGF 2009".
5. (February 10, 2017). "Delivering Digital Equality: The Web Foundation's 2017 – 2022 Strategy".
6. [http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Gordon-Brown-Sets-Out-His-Plans-For-The-Future-Ex-PM-And-Wife-Sarah-Will-Work-On-Charity-Projects/Article/201009115711936?lpos=Politics_First_UK_News_Feature_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15711936_Gordon_Brown_Sets_Out_His_Plans_For_The_Future%3A_Ex-PM_And_Wife_Sarah_Will_Work_On_Charity_Projects Gordon's Future: Ex-PM Reveals His Big Plans], ''[[Sky News]]'', September 2, 2010
7. Berners-Lee, Tim. (27 September 2024). "An Update on the Future of the Web Foundation". World Wide Web Foundation.
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9. Berners-Lee, Tim. (March 12, 2018). "The web can be weaponized – and we can't count on big tech to stop it | Tim Berners-Lee". The Guardian.
10. (October 8, 2009). "About".
11. "Home".
12. (May 11, 2015). "Research".
13. (November 5, 2018). "Web creator Berners-Lee launches contract for better internet".
14. "Contract for the Web".
15. (25 November 2019). "Web inventor attacks Tories over misinformation". BBC.
16. (24 November 2019). "I Invented the World Wide Web. Here's How We Can Fix It.". New York Times.
17. (November 28, 2018). "Bund unterstützt "Contract for the web"".
18. Collins, Katie. "Tim Berners-Lee unveils 'contract' to protect and strengthen the web".
19. "Google and Facebook Join Tim Berners-Lee's 'Contract for the Web'".