May 20, 2024 // Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up to receive your own copy here.

A people's bid to acquire TikTok

Frank McCourt, Founder of Project Liberty and Executive Chairman of McCourt Global, announced last week that Project Liberty is organizing a bid to acquire the popular social media platform TikTok in the US, with the goal of placing people and data empowerment at the center of the platform’s design and purpose.

Working in consultation with Guggenheim Securities, the investment banking and capital markets business of Guggenheim Partners, and Kirkland & Ellis, one of the world’s largest law firms, as well as world-renowned technologists, academics, community leaders, parents and engaged citizens, this bid for TikTok offers an innovative, alternative vision for the platform’s infrastructure—one that allows people to reclaim agency over their digital identities and data by proposing to migrate the platform to a new digital open-source protocol. 

In launching the bid, McCourt and his partners are seizing this opportunity to return control and value back into the hands of individuals and provide Americans with a meaningful voice, choice, and stake in the future of the web.

“The foundation of our digital infrastructure is broken, and it’s time to fix it. We can, and must, do more to safeguard the health and well-being of our children, families, democracy and society. We see this potential acquisition as an incredible opportunity to catalyze an alternative to the current tech model that has colonized the internet,” said McCourt. 

“By bringing leading academics, technologists, behavioral scientists, psychologists and economic experts together with community partners, parents and citizens, we believe we can preserve—and enhance—the TikTok experience by giving individuals and creators on the platform the value and control they deserve regarding who has access to their data and how it is used.”

This country has long been the global driver of ground-breaking innovation, and we encourage anyone who’s interested in reclaiming your data from Big Tech to engage with us and take a step forward to redefine the future of the internet for the people.

// Diverse coalition of supporters

This bid for TikTok—driven by Project Liberty’s vision for our tech future—has already mobilized a diverse coalition of experts, citizens and activists, who recognize the challenges posed by our current digital infrastructure and believe in innovative technology solutions to address them. 

Supporters include:

“This proposal has my support. The web I invented was to provide power and value to individuals, which they do not have at the moment. Users should have an ability to control their own data, to share it with other people and organizations as they choose. A TikTok utilizing open internet protocols, such as Solid, will embrace the critical values of privacy, data sovereignty, and user mental health.” 

– Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder of Inrupt, Director of the open-source protocol, Solid

"Today’s unregulated social media landscape allows platforms to target children and teens, promoting dangerous and addictive content to maximize their time online and drive profits for Big Tech companies. As the parent of a child who was victimized through social media, I fully support Frank McCourt’s and Project Liberty’s vision for TikTok, which allows users to access the incredible sharing power of the internet without subjecting youth and adults alike to exploitation and sacrificing our society’s collective wellbeing.” 

– Deb Schmill, Mother of Becca, Founder and President of the Becca Schmill Foundation

“Frank McCourt’s and Project Liberty’s proposal to purchase TikTok represents a dramatic and unique moment in the evolution of social media. Driven by a very different set of motivations than the ‘Big Tech’ providers of social media, this bid’s primary objective is to give individuals more control over their experience, control over how their data is used, and prevent harms, especially to younger users. This potential future for TikTok, with its reshaping using the capabilities of open-source protocols, such as DSNP, can be a powerful way for us to build a social media experience that benefits people while limiting manipulation and harm.” 

– David Clark, Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, DSNP Advisor

Follow along with additional updates about this development at projectliberty.io and sign up to join the fight here.

Project Liberty in the news

This week we’re focusing on key media highlights around The People’s Bid

// Bloomberg Technology: Frank McCourt Readying US TikTok Bid

// Semafor: “We want all the capital to be values-aligned [around] a new and better version of the internet, where individuals are respected and they own and control their identity and their data.”

// The New York Times: “We doubt very much that China would sell TikTok with the algorithm. We’re the one bidder that doesn’t want the algorithm because we’re talking about a different architecture, a different way of thinking about the internet and how it operates.” 

What People Are Saying

// Maria Bartiromo | Anchor, Fox News

Social media platforms are scraping our data: Frank McCourt @MorningsMaria @FoxBusiness

// Jonathan Haidt | Social Psychologist, NYU Stern

What a creative approach to changing social media: Assemble a consortium to buy TikTok and make it better, on an architecture that respects users' rights. Go Frank McCourt! Go @pro_jectliberty!

// Spencer Cox | Governor, Utah

I’m excited this news is finally public. Frank McCourt and Project Liberty are doing some of the most important work to save our country and humanity.  I can’t recommend his book “Our Greatest Fight” enough.

// Nicholas Thompson | CEO, The Atlantic

Frank McCourt has spent the last several years pushing a radically different vision for tech—privacy first, blockchain based, public interest. This would be a very different future for TikTok.

Other notable headlines

// 🥊 Google and OpenAI are racing to rewire the internet. Both companies are competing to build a combination of ChatGPT and Search, according to an article in The Verge. 

// 🇦🇪 An article in The Washington Post explored how the authoritarian Middle East became the capital of Silicon Valley. The Biden administration has brokered the tech industry’s ties to the region as a bulwark against China.

// 🪪 An investigation by The Markup found that mortgage brokers sent people’s estimated credit, address, and veteran status to Facebook. Experts say it might be illegal.

// 🇲🇽 In advance of Mexico’s presidential elections on June 2nd, there's been an increase in threats to freedom of expression online, according to an article in Tech Policy Press.

// 📰 A journalist from the Wall Street Journal reflected on what he got wrong after 500 articles and a decade of predicting the future of tech. He shared five big lessons.

// 🇪🇺 The EU is investigating Meta over addictive social media effects on children, claiming its platforms might “exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors,” according to an article in The New York Times.

Partner news & opportunities

// New book on collaborative technology & democracy

A new book 數位 Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy was released last week by RadicalxChange’s Glen Weyl and Taiwan's first Digital Minister, Audrey Tang. Get it here.

// Deadline extended - Civic Saturday Fellowship application 

Apply to join Citizen University as a Civic Saturday Fellow. The Civic Saturday Fellowship trains civic leaders to organize and host ritualized gatherings that deepen connections among community members. Apply by May 31st!

// Podcast: Reimagining Democracy for a Good Life

Angela Glover Blackwell hosts Reimagining Democracy for a Good Life, a six-part podcast series from PolicyLink that explores the essential elements of a strong, inclusive, multiracial democracy from the perspective of grassroots organizers and leaders in Los Angeles. Listen here.

What did you think of today's newsletter?

/ Project Liberty is leading a movement of people who want to take back control of their lives in the digital age by reclaiming a voice, choice, and stake in a better internet.

Thank you for reading.