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The present: our situation We have treated the Web as only a force for good, and indeed it has catalyzed major social changes. We are proud of the positive changes: e-commerce, publishing, instant access to facts, social engagement, entertainment. At the same time, the Web’s phenomenal success has led to many unintended consequences that inflict significant distress on society: Its openness and anonymity enable scams, phishing, and fraud. It is too easy to gather personal information, unknown to users: business models that support "free" access to web resources mostly depend on collecting detailed personal information on users without their knowledge, performing exploitive surveillance. The wealth of content funded by these models are a public good; the loss of personal privacy and higher barriers to understanding are not. By accelerating the easy exchange of information around the globe, it has enabled misinformation to flourish and be exploited for political or commercial gain; lack of diversity in participation at W3C has undoubtedly led to biases in specifications.