(Telecompaper) World wide web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee has called for internet access to be recognised as a human right. Presenting his World Wide Web Foundation's latest report tracking the internet's global impact, Berners-Lee said the internet could help tackle inequality as long as rights such as freedom of expression, affordable access and net neutrality were "hardwired" into the basic rules of net use. "It's time to recognise the internet as a basic human right," he said. "That means guaranteeing affordable access for all, ensuring internet packets are delivered without commercial or political discrimination, and protecting the privacy and freedom of web users regardless of where they live." However, the 2014-15 edition of the Web Foundation's annual Web Index found that the web is becoming less free and more unequal. Almost 60 percent of the world's people 4.3 billion cannot get online, while over half of those who can access the internet live in countries that severely restrict their rights online. In fact, laws preventing mass online surveillance are weak or nonexistent in more than 84 percent of countries, said the report, and 38 percent of surveyed countries are blocking sensitive online content to a "moderate or extreme degree", an increase of 6 percent from 2013.