On this day, in 1989, Sir Tim Berners-Lee wrote a proposal, that is widely regarded as the birth of the "web" as we know it.

Today, Sir Tim Berners-Lee published an article about the current state of "the web" and how the free and open transfer of information and knowledge is endangered by the current fights about rights, ownership, censorship and monitarization of data.

The web has become a public square, a library, a doctor’s office, a shop, a school, a design studio, an office, a cinema, a bank, and so much more. Of course with every new feature, every new website, the divide between those who are online and those who are not increases, making it all the more imperative to make the web available for everyone.

And while the web has created opportunity, given marginalised groups a voice, and made our daily lives easier, it has also created opportunity for scammers, given a voice to those who spread hatred, and made all kinds of crime easier to commit.

Against the backdrop of news stories about how the web is misused, it’s understandable that many people feel afraid and unsure if the web is really a force for good. But given how much the web has changed in the past 30 years, it would be defeatist and unimaginative to assume that the web as we know it can’t be changed for the better in the next 30. If we give up on building a better web now, then the web will not have failed us. We will have failed the web.

Here in Europe, we are currently facing a planned introduction of laws that quite possibly will lead to upload filters to control every user generated content on a every platform that uses such content.

Rocking in the free web gets harder and harder.

Let's save the internet.