BBC rounds up the development of the World Wide Web

The new BBC2 series, that aired its first episode on 30 January, manages to raise some interesting points but provides little we haven’t heard before.

Led by Dr Aleks Krotoski, a technology academic and journalist, viewers are taken along a predictable route from the early days of the ‘rebellious’ internet, to its colonisation and the capitalisation. The juxtaposition between Sir Tim Berners-Lee, non-profit driven inventor of the World Wide Web and ‘the ultimate capitalist’ Bill Gates is shamelessly blatant – although, can’t be argued to be unjustified.

During the programme, a series of important questions are being asked by Dr Krotoski, but the answers are mostly left for the viewer to figure out. In the meanwhile, we’re being provided with shots of the young female presenter strolling around with a thoughtful look on her face or fiddling with her laptop in various places in uncomfortable positions.

The impressive list of interviewees is indeed impressive, although not everyone has groundbreaking views to share. The highlights for me were Berners-Lee describing the birth of the WWW (always interesting to hear things first hand, especially when there’s a shady memo involved with boss’s note “Vague, but exciting” on the side) along with Grateful Dead lyricist, John Perry Barlow, telling about the rise of facebook’s ancestor, social media site ‘The Well’.

Barlow hits the core of the issue of freedom of speech vs. censorship in the web – continuously relevant in the modern world.

“You don’t have to control people if you control what they believe, and you can control what they believe if you control what they have access to.”

After this viewers are hurried through phenomena like the political power of blogs (using the violent aftermath of the elections in Kenya as an example), the dubious nature of piracy (brief history of Napster) and the importance of editorial involvement to some extent (Wikipedia).

Conclusion? Having started as a flagship of free speech and equal opportunities, the web’s being colonised by new gatekeepers that establish old hierarchies. But not to worry, the nature of the web is continuing to enable people to create new ways to express themselves.

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Next episode on BBC 2 Saturday 6 February, 8.15pm
Enemy of the State? How the web is forging a new brand of politics.

View the first episode on BBC iPlayer

Visit the programme website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/