ME and Ophelia

The British inventor of the internet says he is worried about the way it could be used to spread "misinformation and undemocratic forces".

The web has transformed the way many people work, play and do business.

But Sir Tim Berners-Lee told BBC News he fears that, if the way the internet is used is left to develop unchecked, "bad things" could happen.

As a result he wants set up a research project to study the social implications of the web's development.

The changes experienced to date because of the internet are just the start of a more radical transformation of society, he says.

But he is concerned about the way it could end up being used.

His new web science research initiative will be more than just computer science, he insists.

He wants to attract researchers from a range of disciplines to study it as a social as well as technological phenomenon.

Sir Tim, who developed the web in the late 1980s, says of his invention that he was "in the right place at the right time".