Web's inventor fights fakery and evils

THE World Wide Web's inventor, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, said the impact of fake news is increasingly concerning as he unveiled plans to tackle "unethical” political advertising and data harvesting. On his invention's 28th birthday, he said three new trends have become alarming in the past year.

Misuse of data had a "chilling effect on free speech” and he warned of "internet blind spots” that are corrupting democracy. Most people found their news and information through a "handful” of social media sites and search engines that are paid when someone clicks a link.

"These sites show us content they think we'll click on - meaning that misinformation, or fake news, which is surprising, shocking, or designed to appeal to our biases, can spread like wildfire,” he said. - INM