Internet has no 'off switch', says web inventor

Advertisement
By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 6 September 2012 11:25 IST
Internet has no 'off switch', says web inventor
Tim Berners-Lee, the British inventor of the World Wide Web, on Wednesday warned governments that attempts to block the Internet were doomed to failure due to its scattered structure.

Speaking at the launch of a league table showing which countries use the web most effectively, Berners-Lee said the lack of a global internet "off-switch" meant authoritarian regimes could not stem the influx of digital information.

"The way the Internet is designed is very much as a decentralised system," he explained at the London launch.

"At the moment, because countries connect to each other in lots of different ways, there is no one off switch, there is no central place where you can turn it off.

"In order to be able to turn the whole thing off or really block, suppress one particular idea then the countries and governments would have to get together and agree and co-ordinate and turn it from a decentralised system to being a centralised system.

Advertisement

"And if that does happen it is really important that everybody fights against that sort of direction."

Sweden came out on top of the global league table, which was calculated by the World Wide Web Foundation using indicators such as the political, economic and social impact of the web, connectivity and use.

Advertisement

The US came in second, ahead of Britain, Canada and Finland. France came in at 14th place. Yemen ranked bottom, closely followed by Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso and Benin.

Berners-Lee, who was honoured during the London Olympics opening ceremony, launched the first web page on Christmas Day 1990.

Advertisement

He is credited with creating the World Wide Web, which enables users to store and access information via the internet.

 

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: World Wide Web
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Google Pixel 10 Pro Series, Pixel Buds 2a, Pixel Watch 4 Design Leaked
  2. Redmi 15 Leaked Renders Indicate It Will Arrive in These Colourways
  1. Oppo Reno 14FS 5G Price, Design and Specifications Leaked Ahead of Anticipated Debut
  2. Samsung Galaxy A07 Listed on Google Play Console With Design, Key Specifications: Report
  3. Microsoft SharePoint Hack: Probe on Whether Chinese Hackers Found Flaw via Alert
  4. Samsung Reportedly in Talks With OpenAI, Perplexity to Offer Gemini AI Alternatives on Galaxy S26 Series
  5. Redmi 15 Design Renders, Specifications Leaked; Tipped to Arrive in Three Colourways
  6. Google Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL Spotted in Moonstone Colourway Alongside Pixel Buds 2a and Pixel Watch 4
  7. Meta Names ChatGPT Co-Creator Shengjia Zhao as Chief Scientist of Superintelligence Lab
  8. Who-Fi: An AI-Powered Wi-Fi Technology That Can Identify and Track Individuals Without Cameras
  9. NASA’s X-59 Moves Closer to First Flight with Advanced Taxi Tests and Augmented Vision
  10. Unusual Plasma Waves Above Jupiter’s North Pole Can Possibly Be Explained
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.