Inventor of Web Warns Against Internet Censorship, Surveillance

Praises its use in helping people organize

The growing surveillance and censorship of the Internet "threatens the future of democracy", the inventor of the world wide web said on Friday.

Tim Berners-Lee was speaking at the launch of his World Wide Web Foundation's second annual index measuring the Internet's contribution to social, economic and political development and human rights.

"One of the most encouraging findings of this year's Web Index is how the web and social media are increasingly spurring people to organise, take action and try to expose wrongdoing in every region of the world," said Berners-Lee.