More people now have access to more goods and services on more equal terms.īut as the Web has grown, so too has people’s capacity to take advantage of it, creating challenges to the ideals of online fairness. Things are far from perfect-access to the Web remains skewed to first-world countries and the upper-class-but the internet has made them fairer than ever before. Libraries, shopping centers, tax offices, even medical services have all been brought into the comfort of our homes through access to the internet. People in regional areas, those working long hours, and those with disabilities now have access to knowledge, goods, and services that were once difficult or impossible to come by. It gives us a new level of access to public and private sector goods and services. It lets us communicate with family, friends, and strangers. It allows for knowledge-sharing on a global scale. Over the past 30 years, the Web has become a core part of culture and society. "But if we don’t act now-and act together-to prevent the web being misused by those who want to exploit, divide and undermine, we are at risk of squandering that potential." "The power of the web to transform people’s lives, enrich society and reduce inequality is one of the defining opportunities of our time," wrote Sir Tim Berners-Lee on the 30th anniversary of his invention of the World Wide Web.
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