Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, has warned that his invention "is not working for women and girls" in a new open letter published 31 years after he created the technology.

The British computer scientist wrote that he is “seriously concerned” that online abuse threatens the progress of gender equality.

“Such abuse forces women out of jobs and causes girls to skip school, it damages relationships and leads to tremendous distress,” Sir Tim wrote.

He also published new research carried out by his Web Foundation organisation and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts which found that most young women surveyed had experience online violence such as sexual harassment or threatening messages.

The research found that 87pc of girls surveyed think the problem is getting worse.

Sir Tim also warned that artificial intelligence algorithms can “reproduce and even deepen existing inequalities,” referencing Amazon’s scrapped hiring software which reportedly taught itself to prefer male candidates over female job applicants.

The inventor of the web expressed concern that women in the world’s least developed countries are less likely to be online than men.

Coronavirus, he wrote, “demonstrates just how urgently we need action. When offices and schools close, the web is a lifeline that allows us to keep working, educating our children and reading information vital to keeping us safe and healthy.”

“A world where so many women and girls are deprived of these basics is completely unacceptable,” he added.

The father of Molly Russell has welcomed a warning by the World Wide Web inventor about online harms facing women and girls.

The 14-year-old schoolgirl took her own life in 2017 after viewing harmful images on Instagram.

Ian Russell has urged everyone to work together to make the web a safer place, saying "cases like Molly's show that this really can be a matter of life and death".

Mr Russell also renewed calls for tech giants to "stop prioritising profit over the removal of online harms".

"If the internet is to be the productive, safe and positive resource intended then all of us must change how we use it," he said in a statement through the Molly Rose Foundation.

"Governments, corporations and individuals must act responsibly and urgently to prevent online harms, particularly those affecting vulnerable young females.

The NSPCC also supported Sir Tim's open letter, saying his intervention should make people "sit up and take notice".