Just 10 days before the US ban on TikTok took effect, billionaire Frank McCourt's non-profit organization Project Liberty made an offer to buy the social media platform from Chinese technology company ByteDance yesterday (January 9).
If the bid is successful, Project Liberty and its partners, known as “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” would restructure the app to exist on an American-owned platform that prioritizes digital safety for users.
Billionaire Frank McCourt's nonprofit Project Liberty has proposed buying TikTok.
“We presented a proposal to ByteDance to realize Project Liberty’s vision of a reimagined TikTok — a TikTok built on an American-made technology platform that puts people first,” said McCourt, founder of Project Liberty.
“By maintaining a platform independent of TikTok’s current algorithm and avoiding a ban, millions of Americans can continue to enjoy the app,” McCourt added.
A Project Liberty spokesperson said the nonprofit would not disclose the financial terms of the offer but confirmed that ByteDance had received the proposal.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments today on the ban, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden last April. ByteDance has repeatedly refused to sell TikTok and has appealed the law on the US Constitution.
The case has previously made its way through the judicial system. Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the law on December 6, 2024, saying the government ’s national security rationale for the ban was compelling.
In a court filing on December 9, 2024, TikTok said the ban would cost US small businesses and social media creators $1.3 billion in lost revenue in just one month and that more than 7 million US users do business on TikTok.
The ban, known as the Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act, prohibits distribution and updates to the app while the platform is owned by China.
People's Bid for TikTok aims to transition TikTok to an open-source platform that gives users more control over their data, as part of Project Liberty's mission to build a more empowering internet.
The initiative is a partnership with investment banking group Guggenheim Securities and law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Joining billionaire Frank McCourt are digital safety advocate and investor Kevin O'Leary and the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee.
(Source CNBC)
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/ty-phu-frank-mccourt-chinh-thuc-ngo-loi-mua-tiktok-192250109234811331.htm
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