Our current social, political, and technical arenas are filled with polarizing speech, intolerance, and misinformation. It seems almost impossible to know who’s telling the truth and who’s trying to advance their partisan agenda.
Faced with that, I was inspired today when I read Ben Werdmuller’s blog post about a new statement of Ethical Web Principles published by W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium. I followed the link to an explanatory article by W3C contributors Daniel Applequist and Yves Lafon. They wrote:
These principles are not merely theoretical; they constitute a call to action. They encourage everyone involved in the web’s evolution to assess their contributions’ societal and environmental impacts. We can create a web that truly benefits everyone by adhering to these principles:
- There is one web
- The web does not cause harm to society
- The web supports healthy community and debate
- The web is for all people
- The web is secure and respects people’s privacy
- The web enables freedom of expression
- The web makes it possible to verify information
- The web enhances individuals’ control and power
- The web is an environmentally sustainable platform
- The web is transparent
- The web is multi-browser, multi-OS, and multi-device
- The web can be consumed in any way that people choose
You can read the entire statement, with expanded commentary on the W3C web site, here.
My response to the call to action is to create this post and to add a statement in the footer of our site that publicly states that we subscribe to these principles. Getting to full compliance is an aspirational goal, but that’s what principles are for.
It’s our small contribution to improving the web. We call on all creators on the web to do the same.
Questions? Suggestions?
Leave a comment below with any questions or suggestions. I always appreciate feedback.
Mike
White Rabbit photo by Victor Larracuente on Unsplash
