The founder of the World Wide Web Sir Tim Berners-Lee wants a ''global Magna Carta'' to make the internet safer and more democratic, a seminar in London has been told.

Sir Tim was speaking at the launch of the Web We Want Festival, which will run at the Southbank Centre in London from September 2014 with the aim of defending and changing the future of the web.

The World Wide Web is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and the occasion is being marked with a series of discussions on what needs to change to help preserve it for future generations in the wake of negative stories around privacy and surveillance.

Twenty-five years ago, the first site on the World Wide Web was created by Sir Tim while working as an academic at the University of Southampton.

Since he launched the world’s first website, info.cern.ch, the world has revolutionised the way people interact and carry out basic tasks like buying food and paying bills.