That's true, but they more or less maintain the HTML standard. You would have to have a lot of skill and dedication to come up with a different standard and implement it. Also, if the big browsers (or, for the fediverse, the big apps) don't support your competing standard, you're just running your service for yourself.
I'm not saying it can't be done, but right now we absolutely rely on the common goodwill of all fediverse developers. Bad apples can spoil the bunch.