The future of TikTok remains uncertain in the United States after President Joe Biden signed a law in April that forces the app’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform by the beginning of 2025. However, one billionaire wants to make a bid on the social media app. Frank McCourt said that he’s doing it on behalf of American families as part of an effort to make the internet safer.
McCourt, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is pushing forward with his pursuit of purchasing the social media platform. In May, He announced his plans to buy TikTok through his company, Project Liberty, and recently spoke out about the reasons why. According to its website, Project Liberty is dedicated to building a stronger, healthier internet infrastructure.
Meanwhile, McCourt has been outspoken about the harms of social media and the internet to families and children.
“We have a broken internet and also, as the father of seven children, I am deeply concerned about what’s going on out there,” McCourt said. “The internet has been colonized. It’s essentially five big companies that now own it and more importantly, they own us. They own and control our data.”
Not only does McCourt want to acquire TikTok, but he also wants to change the internet to allow people to have control over their digital identities and personal data.
“This day and age our data is our personhood,” McCourt said. “Make no mistake, these platforms know everything about us, and they use it to make money. They use it to feed us information and we’re learning now; they’re using it to harm kids as well. So, this is a big problem I think we all need to address with great urgency.”
McCourt isn’t the only one concerned about the internet’s increasingly invasive role people’s lives. Congress has also expressed concerns about Americans personal data being shared with the Chinese government.
ByteDance has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to block the forced selling of its company and contends that it does not share user information with the Chinese government. ByteDance’s CEO has said in the past that he would rather face a ban than sell the social media app.
