The creator of the web says coronavirus has highlighted the importance of internet connectivity as a basic right. 

Sir Tim Berners-Lee says too many young people do not have internet access and the digital divide has widened during the pandemic. 

He called on governments to invest to provide universal broadband by 2030. 

“We can’t afford not to do it,” he wrote in his annual letter to mark the anniversary of the world wide web.

Sir Tim first conceived of the web while working at the Cern particle research lab in 1989. 

He says over the last 12 months, it “has proven to be a lifeline that allows us to adapt and carry on”.

But, he says, one-third of young people do not have any internet access and many more lack the quality of connection needed to work or learn from home. 

In an interview with the BBC, he said that as the web became more powerful, the digital divide between the haves and have-nots had grown wider. 

“That’s always been the case,” he says.

“Now working from home, and learning at home, have made it much more clear.”