Frank McCourt (US onAir post) is a civic entrepreneur and the executive chairman of McCourt Global, a private family company committed to building a better future through its work across the real estate, sports, technology, media, and capital investment industries, as well as its significant philanthropic activities.
From McCourt Global website:
Frank McCourt has served on Georgetown University’s Board of Directors for many years and, in 2013, made a $100 million founding investment to create Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. He expanded on this in 2021 with a $100 million investment to catalyze an inclusive pipeline of public policy leaders and put the school on a path to becoming tuition-free.
He is a passionate supporter of multiple academic, civic, and cultural institutions and initiatives. He is the founder of Project Liberty, a far-reaching, $500 million initiative focused on 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. The project includes the development of a groundbreaking, open-source internet protocol called the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), a piece of digital public infrastructure which will serve as the bedrock of a more equitable web and support a new era of innovation that empowers people over platforms and serves the common good. Project Liberty also includes the Project Liberty Institute, launched with founding partners Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, and ETH in Zurich, to advance research, bring together technologists and social scientists, and develop a governance model for the internet’s next era.
Below are video interviews and articles about Frank McCourt’s plans for Project Liberty, the DSNP, and his consortium to buy the US arm of TikTok.
Businessman Frank McCourt says company working to be in position to buy TikTok amid ban threat
Face the Nation, Margaret Brennan – December 8, 2024 (07:14)
OUR BIGGEST FIGHT: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age (book)
Book website
“a galvanizing call to action for a tech revolution that empowers people over platforms and accelerates a new internet”
“a resounding call to action for building a healthier and more equitable internet that frees users from Big Tech’s exploitation, recognizes individuals’ rights to their data, safeguards children and prioritizes the common good”
Meet Frank McCourt, The Billionaire Trying To Buy TikTok
Forbes Breaking News – May 15, 2024 (36:17)
Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty advances bid for TikTok
Axios, Sara Fischer – December 5, 2024
Project Liberty, founded by billionaire Frank McCourt, has pulled together participants for a consortium of investors interested in pursuing a “peoples bid” for TikTok, McCourt told Axios.
Why it matters: A U.S. court has until January 19 to decide whether TikTok should be banned if it does not find a U.S. buyer.
- With Big Tech under record antitrust scrutiny, a wealthy U.S. investor group could be a plausible buyer for the app — which could be worth anywhere from $20 billion to $100 billion, depending on how the U.S. part of the business is split from its parent.
State of play: McCourt launched Project Liberty, which includes both a for-profit company and a non-profit institute, in 2021 to help build and advocate for a safer and more equitable internet. He announced his intentions to assemble an investor group to buy the app in May.
- Participants in Project Liberty’s investor group, who are not yet being disclosed, have made informal commitments of more than $20 billion of capital, a spokesperson said.
- Project Liberty has held conversations with a diverse set of stakeholders across the financial, business and investment sectors and will begin an investor roadshow early next week in New York City and San Francisco.
Of note: Project Liberty says that its bid has the support of several internet pioneers, including World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee and MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory senior research scientist David Clark.
- The group is working in consultation with Guggenheim Securities, the investment banking and capital markets business of Guggenheim Partners, and Kirkland & Ellis, a global law firm, on its bid.
Between the lines: McCourt believes Project Liberty “is uniquely positioned to assume stewardship of TikTok” because of the tech and governance protocols it has built to prioritize user privacy and safety.
- “This landmark acquisition would catalyze our long committed desire to usher in the era of an upgraded internet — one that prioritizes safety, democracy, and civil discourse,” McCourt told Axios in a statement.
- “The technology we are building respects individuals by returning to them ownership and control of their identity and their data, not by surveilling them.”
- “This is possible because we’re not influenced by foreign actors, we’re not beholden to Big Tech, and we’ve built the necessary technology that can support this powerful platform loved by more than 170 million Americans.”
Zoom in: Alongside its research and policy efforts, Project Liberty has also developed its own blockchain-based, decentralized web infrastructure to make social media safer and more secure.
- In 2022, MeWe, a free and subscription-based social media platform that bills itself as a privacy-focused alternative to Facebook, became the first social network to launch using Project Liberty’s decentralized social networking protocol (DSNP).
Yes, but: McCourt and other interested bidders may be eager to get their hands on TikTok, but the Chinese government has pushed back aggressively against the idea of selling it.
- Congress passed a bill in April that President Biden signed into law requiring TikTok parent ByteDance to divest the U.S. arm of the app or face a ban.
- TikTok has filed a legal challenge of the law.
- President-elect Trump, who has reversed his position on TikTok and now says he doesn’t support a ban, could try to get a Republican-led Congress to repeal the law or pressure the DOJ not to enforce a ban.
Advancing Data Agency: A Vision for Digital Infrastructure in the AI Era
Project Liberty, Sarah nicole – December 17, 2024
How Can Governments Catalyze Positive Digital Infrastructure Innovation?”
Data is the lifeblood of the digital economy, shaping who benefits from technological progress. The report underscores how digital infrastructure—including identity systems, payment platforms, and data exchanges—can transform sectors by enhancing accessibility, efficiency, and sustainability. However, market concentration among dominant tech platforms raises critical questions about competition, individual control, and equity.
Governments are uniquely positioned to act as both regulators and market shapers, driving innovation while ensuring a fair distribution of digital power. By establishing standards, investing in infrastructure, and fostering open ecosystems under robust governance frameworks, governments can pave the way for inclusive growth and trust in technology.
One of the report’s central themes is the call for governments to push the adoption of decentralized, transparent, and inclusive frameworks to prevent more extractive, centralized digital models. Key global frameworks such as the UN’s Global Digital Compact and the G20’s Digital Public Infrastructure principles provide a solid starting point. Yet, challenges remain in harmonizing definitions, enabling interoperability, and reconciling regional differences.
Building on their shared mission to give people control of their digital lives, Project Liberty, Frequency Network Foundation, and WeAre8 are transforming social media through the Frequency blockchain, empowering people with ownership, transparency, and the freedom to engage in a healthier, fairer digital world
Project Liberty, Frequency Network Foundation, and WeAre8, a transformational social media platform, today announced a collaboration that will accelerate their innovative, people-first digital solutions, delivering a more transparent and economically beneficial social media experience. Project Liberty, Frequency Network Foundation and WeAre8 have built digital experiences that prioritizes individual empowerment, economic fairness, and genuine digital interactions, breaking away from Big Tech’s profit-driven algorithms – and together are embarking on the next phase of this revolution.
This collaboration marks a major milestone toward putting control of our digital experiences back into the hands of the people. WeAre8 plans to integrate with the Frequency blockchain, which will allow users to benefit from increased financial value and regain control of their digital identity. This revolutionary internet infrastructure was developed by the Frequency Network Foundation and Project Liberty.
“WeAre8 is living proof that a digital world free from Big Tech’s addictive algorithms can be amazing,” said Frank McCourt, Founder of Project Liberty. “By placing power back in the hands of people, individuals can control their own experiences and benefit financially from their interactions with content. Project Liberty is honored to join forces with WeAre8 as we usher in a new digital era of people’s platforms powered by a people’s internet.”
“This collaboration with Project Liberty marks a pivotal moment for a reimagined digital world that serves the people and supports the planet,” said Zoe Kalar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WeAre8. “We have transformed social media by eliminating toxic content, removed algorithms so people can reach all their followers with every post, and built a transformational economic model where the ad revenues are shared with people. Project Liberty brings all our citizens another layer of independence, protection and freedom and we are excited about what our partnership means for people when we are all truly free from big tech control.”
A transformational feature of WeAre8 is its commitment to redistributing wealth back into the hands of people through its business model: 60% of its ad revenue is returned directly to citizens (users), charities, creators, and planet-impact projects. Unlike traditional platforms that force advertising into people’s feeds and encourage endless scrolling, WeAre8 separates the ads from the feeds, enabling people to discover and even link off-platform from feed posts, while giving them choice on when they watch ads. And people are happy to watch them when they are valued. Every ad dollar is shared with people for every completed ad view, empowering them to direct these funds toward community initiatives, charitable causes, mobile bills, subscriptions or their personal needs.
For more information about WeAre8, visit here. For more information about Project Liberty, visit here. For more information about Frequency, visit here.
