The problem
The web was supposed to be different.
It was built as a shared space: open, distributed, accessible to all. Somewhere knowledge could circulate freely, where anyone could publish, connect, and create.
That space has been captured. Platform monopolies dominate communication. Surveillance-based business models turn attention into revenue. A handful of cloud providers control the infrastructure everyone depends on. They collect data, set the rules, and answer to no one.
This is not an accident. The current web was built for extraction, control, and dependency. It works exactly as intended, just not for us.
Web B is not a new version of the web. It is a serious attempt to take it back.
Where we came from · where we are · where we go
The web's ages, and a different path
Each era of the web arrived with a promise. Each was eventually captured. Web B is not the next version in that sequence. It is a different direction entirely.
| Web 1~1990–2004 | Web 2~2004–2015 | Web 3~2015–2022 | Web 4~2022–? | Web BNow | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Read: static pages & hyperlinks | Read / Write: platforms & user content | Own? Blockchain, tokens, NFTs | Symbiosis: AI agents, intelligent webs | Reclaim: take back the commons |
| Power | Distributed, technical elite | Centralised platforms | Decentralised in form, speculative in practice | Concentrated in AI labs & cloud providers | Federated, collectively governed |
| Who benefits | Early adopters & technologists | Platforms & advertisers | Speculators & insiders | Infrastructure owners & AI companies | Communities & participants |
| Data | Minimal, open | Extracted & monetised | On-chain, still opaque | Fed to models, controlled by few | Governed by individuals & communities |
| Infrastructure | Open protocols: HTTP, HTML | Proprietary platforms & APIs | New chains, same silos | Hyperscaler clouds & closed models | Open standards & federated nodes |
| Governance | Technical bodies: W3C, IETF | Corporate ToS & algorithms | DAO theatre, plutocratic voting | Opaque model policies | Subsidiarity, local & transparent |
| The user is… | A reader | A product | A speculator | A prompt & a data point | A participant & co-steward |
← Scroll to see all columns on small screens
Web 1 ~1990–2004
Web 2 ~2004–2015
Web 3 ~2015–2022
Web 4 ~2022–?
Web B Now
Seven commitments
Our principles
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The web as a commons
The web is a shared resource. Its protocols, code, and physical infrastructure must be collectively maintained and protected from privatisation. No actor should be able to enclose what belongs to all: not a platform, not a cloud provider, not even a well-intentioned government.
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Federation over centralisation
No single platform should dominate communication or access. Web B is built on interconnected nodes: communities, organisations, individuals. Each is autonomous. Together they cooperate.
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Protocols, not platforms
The foundations of the web must be open standards, not proprietary ecosystems. Anyone can build. No one can lock others in.
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Data belongs to people, and to communities
Personal data is not a commodity. People must be able to control what is collected about them, how it is used, and who can access it. But data is also collective. Communities should be able to manage shared data as a commons, through stewardship models that go beyond individual consent.
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Subsidiarity by design
Decisions should be made as close as possible to those affected. Local communities govern their digital spaces. Coordination happens only when necessary.
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Transparency and accountability
Governance must be concrete. Communities set their own moderation rules. Federated nodes coordinate through open, negotiated agreements. Algorithms and policies are visible and contestable. Trust comes from openness, not promises.
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Resilience over growth
Scale for its own sake is not the point. Web B favours smaller, distributed systems over monolithic platforms, local hosting over dependence on single providers, infrastructure sized for communities rather than for markets.
What must change
What needs to change
- Users Participants
- Platforms Protocols
- Extraction Stewardship
- Dependency Autonomy
This is not only a digital issue. The web shapes how democracies function, how knowledge spreads, how attention and culture are produced. What happens here matters far beyond the screen.
Two things need to happen at once: building alternatives, and changing the rules. Federated tools, open protocols, community infrastructure. But also law, public procurement, standards bodies. One without the other is not enough.
A call to act
Start now.
The tools already exist: federated social networks, community-controlled infrastructure, open-source stacks, data cooperatives, public interest technology. The work is to connect what exists, scale it, and defend it. The barriers are real, switching costs, network effects, lack of resources, but they are not insurmountable when people act together.
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Use federated tools. Host your own services where you can. Stop feeding the monopolies you have alternatives to.
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Form local groups and cooperatives. Pool resources. Build infrastructure your community actually controls.
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Push institutions, schools, cities, public services, to adopt open standards and stop depending on proprietary platforms.
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Connect with others doing the same. Local initiatives become viable at scale only when they federate.
The web we choose
The web as we knew it has been captured. Web B is the deliberate choice to take it back.
Not to build something new, but to keep building what was always ours.
The web is dead. Long live the web.