News
The US onAir Network & Democracy onAir, the nonpartisan nonprofit supporting US onAir have been inspired by the Vision of Frank McCourt and his stewardship of Project Liberty … and the development of the Decentralized Social Network Protocol (DSNP), the Frequency DSN protocol being piloted by MeWe as well as other DSNP protocols like the AT Protocol used by Bluesky and the Activity Pub Protocol used by Mastodon.
Likewise, Democracy onAir is in the process of exploring how it can adapt the Frequency protocol for its People’s Networks for Democracy for the US and other democratic countries. We have compiled a number of posts related the DSNPs in “The People’s Internet” category.
Project Liberty
Project Liberty is stitching together an ecosystem of technologists, academics, policymakers and citizens committed to building a better internet—where the data is ours to manage, the platforms are ours to govern, and the power is ours to reclaim. Three fundamental beliefs anchor our vision and form the foundation of Project Liberty’s work:
Frank McCourt
Frank H. McCourt Jr. is an American business executive and philanthropist. As of 2023, he is the executive chairman and former CEO of McCourt Global, owner of the football club Marseille and founder and executive chairman of international non-profit Project Liberty.
In 2013, he donated $100 million to establish the McCourt School of Public Policy, the ninth school of Georgetown University. He made a second $100 million gift to Georgetown University in March 2021, for the express purpose of ensuring that “the McCourt School can open its doors more widely and build a pipeline of future public policy leaders that reflects the true diversity of our communities.”
In 2021, he founded the non-profit Project Liberty. The initiative has multiple components which includes the development of the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), the founding of the McCourt Institute with founding academic partners Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and Sciences Po in Paris, and a network of partners within the Unfinished network.
Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP)
DSNP is an open protocol and potential standard for social networking and social media. It is not owned or controlled by any one person or company, allowing anyone to build on it or use it. DSNP is stewarded by Project Liberty Institute, a 501(c)(3).
DSNP is an open-source social media protocol designed to decentralize data ownership, allow easier cross-platform interaction, and let users regain control over their personal data. This includes posts, connections, and messages. The decentralized approach allows users to retain ownership of their information and move it between platforms without relying on a single provider.
Frequency Protocol
Frequency is a blockchain designed to support decentralized social networks to give people control over their online presence. With Frequency, users can freely choose and connect on social apps while retaining ownership of their data.
Built on the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), Frequency offers scalable tools for message discovery, flexible storage for social and identity data, and a unique cost-sharing model that allows apps to deliver smooth, secure experiences that put users in charge.
The People’s Bid for TikTok
The People’s Bid is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Americans to reclaim a voice, choice, and stake in the future of the internet. In April 2024, Congress passed legislation forcing a ban or sale of TikTok in the U.S.
Project Liberty is building a broad consortium of technologists, investors, community leaders, and creators to purchase TikTok and migrate the platform to new infrastructure that allows people to control their own data. We believe a reimagined TikTok can preserve the creativity and dynamism that have made it the cultural engine of the internet while fixing the issues that led Congress to act. Today’s TikTok is a problem. Together, we can make it a solution to the issues created by Big Tech.
Apps Using Frequency Protocol
Frequency is currently being piloted for integration with a number of social media apps including MeWe, We Are 8, and Soar.
Their plans are to integrate with the Frequency blockchain, a groundbreaking move that will allow people to protect their private data while accessing cutting edge AI solutions. The plan leverages revolutionary internet infrastructure developed by the Frequency Network Foundation and Project Liberty.
OnAir Post: Apps Using Frequency Protocol
AT Protocol & Bluesky
The AT Protocol (Authenticated Transfer Protocol, pronounced “at-protocol” and commonly shortened to ATProto)is a protocol and open standard for decentralized social networking services.
It is under development by Bluesky Social PBC, a public benefit corporation originally created as an independent research group within Twitter to investigate the possibility of decentralizing the service.
OnAir Post: AT Protocol & Bluesky
Acitivity Hub & Mastodon
ctivityPub is a protocol and open standard for decentralized social networking. It provides a client-to-server (C2S) API for creating and modifying content, as well as a federated server-to-server (S2S) protocol for delivering notifications and content to other servers.
ActivityPub has become the main standard used in the fediverse, a popular network used for social networking that consists of software such as Mastodon, Pixelfed and PeerTube.
OnAir Post: Acitivity Hub & Mastodon
TODAY’S SEGMENTS:
Residents reel from Los Angeles fires as deaths rise and high winds threaten to return 
• Residents reel from Los Angeles fires…
How to protect yourself from the health hazards of wildfire smoke • How to protect yourself from the heal…
News Wrap: Biden awards Pope Francis with Presidential Medal of Freedom • News Wrap: Biden awards Pope Francis …
Formaldehyde is everywhere, but poses dangers to our health. Here’s what to know • Formaldehyde is everywhere, but poses…
PBS NewsHour, January 9, 2025 – 9:00 am to 1:00 pm (ET)
Economic
Environmental
Yesterday’s Poll Results
73.18% – Climate Change
26.82% – Government Mismanagement of Resources
*Percentage of 56,137 votes
Associated Press
The California wildfires could be leaving deeper inequality in their wakeTrump can still vote after sentencing, but can’t own a gun and will have to turn over DNA sample
Links to AM Headlines
Axios AM Smerconish The Hill Morning Report CNN Breaking News
Links to PM Headlines
Links to other Headlines
Associated Press Digital Future Daily (Politico). NPR Politics
This week, powerful Santa Ana winds and an extremely dry landscape turned the Los Angeles area into every Californian’s nightmare. Several wildfires, almost unstoppable in hurricane-strength gusts, tore through thousands of homes. Schools and businesses burned.
People whose homes survived may now face another risk: When smoke and ash from urban fires blow into houses, they can leave behind toxic chemicals. Colleen Reid, an environmental health researcher at the University of Colorado, has been working with homeowners since the 2021 Marshall Fire outside Boulder, Colorado. She explains what residents there have learned, and she shares advice for dealing with smoky homes, including how to safely clean them.
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| Here’s the first question of this week’s edition: President-elect Donald Trump has recently suggested that the U.S. government should acquire what, by force if necessary?
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PBS NewsHour – January 11, 2025 (03:35)
Vast plumes of smoke and ash from the California wildfires are threatening the health of people miles away, and has led both the Biden administration and Los Angeles County to declare public health emergencies. Ali Rogin speaks with Dr. Russell Buhr, assistant professor of medicine and health policy at UCLA, to learn more.
January 9, 2025
Steve Newman, Am I Stronger Yet?
Are We on the Brink of AGI?
A Tale of Two Timelines
The Robots are coming: Genesis
2025 might open up a new paradigm for RL learning in robotics. Are we near an inflection point for humanoid general purpose robots?
Michael Spencer and Diana Wolf Torres
2025: A Look Ahead
AI products, research, and policy to watch in 2025
Dean W. Ball
Top AI Tools of 2024
Which AI tools stood out for me in 2024? My list.
Michael Spencer
Luiza Jarovsky
Top 5 AI Governance Trends for 2025
AI Policy, Compliance & Regulation | Edition #160
Noah Smith, Noahpinion
Biden’s tarnished industrial legacy
He began our Great Rebuilding, but his approach had fundamental flaws.
Paul Krugman
Lessons From New York’s Congestion Fight
“Car brain” is part of a broader syndrome, which we can’t ignore
Free Press
TikTok Brainwashed America’s Youth
“Researchers found that TikTok significantly downplayed negative content related to China,
Tim Snyder, Thinking About
Shadow Cabinet: A Positive Form of Opposition
Quinn Raymond, If you can keep it
How *you* can protect democracy
29 concrete actions you can take right now to protect our system of government
Dr Dan Goyal
The Promise of Democracy: A Fairer and More Equitable Society
Seems like an appropriate day to remind ourselves of the basic tenets of democracy.
Charlie Sykes
The Enduring Shame of January 6
A Day of Infamy that was just the beginning…
Don Moynihan
Jan. 6 and the path not taken
At key moments, Republicans were unwilling to defend democracy
Malcolm Nance from Special Intelligence
January Six Warning: The Las Vegas Terrorist Wanted Civil War
The Pro-Trump Terrorist Demanded One Thing of His Sacrifice … Purge Democrats
Steve Schmidt, The Warning
The cowardice of the capitulators
Stoic Philosophy
LVIII. On What’s Truly Within Your Control
The things in our control are by nature free, unhindered, and unobstructed, while those not in our control are weak, slavish, can be hindered, and are not our own.
PBS NewsHour – January 9, 2025 (09:44)
Former President Jimmy Carter was remembered Thursday with a state funeral in Washington. To discuss Carter’s life and legacy, Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz spoke with Judy Woodruff, who has covered Carter since before he was elected president, presidential historian Barbara Perry of the University of Virginia and Stuart Eizenstat, who was a domestic policy adviser to President Carter.
TODAY’S SEGMENTS:
Wildfires rage across LA, leaving neighborhoods in ruins • Massive wildfires continue to rage ac…
LA Crews struggle to stop fires fueled by historic winds • ‘This is as bad as I’ve ever seen’: C…
News Wrap: DOJ plans partial release of Trump Jan. 6 report • News Wrap: Justice Department plans p…
Biden announces final Ukraine aid before Trump takes office • Biden administration announces its fi…
Buttigieg recaps transportation infrastructure improvements • Buttigieg recaps administration’s eff…
Syria’s Alawites face uncertain future after fall of Assad • Syria’s once-empowered Alawite minori…
Is U.S. foreign aid for health care being used effectively? • Is U.S. foreign aid for health care b…
Platforms, AI, and the Economics of BigTech, – January 12, 2025
What if the greatest innovation of our times isn’t a product or a platform but an entire economic framework
Most of today’s BigTech started out with a simple product. Facebook began as a social network, Google started with a search engine, Apple’s second coming started as a music player, while Amazon began as an online bookstore. These companies didn’t initially envision the vast, multi-layered ecosystems they would later create. Their playbooks emerged over time.
Reliance Jio did something different.
It started out with a view of creating not just a superior product or service, or even a superior business model.
It started out with the goal of creating a superior economic framework – a framework which clearly called out what the future economic structure would look like, and which companies would win within it and who would lose.
Today’s Smerconish Poll
Yesterday’s Poll Results
Associated Press
Politico
Axios
Vox
Links to AM Headlines
Axios AM Smerconish The Hill Morning Report CNN Breaking News
Links to PM Headlines
Links to other Headlines
Associated Press Digital Future Daily (Politico). NPR Politics
TODAY’S SEGMENTS:
Trump expresses desire to expand U.S. territory • Trump expresses desire to expand U.S….
News Wrap: Wildfire in Los Angeles hills explodes in size • News Wrap: Wildfire in hills of Los A…
Meta drops fact-checking, critics fear misinformation spike • As Meta drops fact-checking, critics …
U.S. accuses Sudan’s rebel forces of committing genocide • U.S. accuses Sudan’s rebel forces of … A
ctivists in Iran describe threats they face for protesting • Activists in Iran describe the threat…
Minneapolis agrees to federal oversight of its police • Minneapolis agrees to federal oversig…
Where does U.S. foreign aid go and does it make an impact? • Where does U.S. foreign aid go and do…
Artist uses elements of natural world to see it in new ways • Artist uses elements of the natural w…
TODAY’S SEGMENTS:
Congress certifies Trump’s election win 4 years after Capitol riot • Congress certifies Trump’s election w…
News Wrap: Winter storm slams Mid-Atlantic states • News Wrap: Winter storm slams Mid-Atl…
Trudeau stepping down as PM after rapid decline in approval • Trudeau stepping down as Canada’s PM …
Truck explosion brings attention to PTSD for service members • Truck explosion refocuses attention o…
Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on Trump reshaping Jan. 6 • Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on Trump …
Washington Post faces turmoil and high-profile departures • Washington Post faces editorial turmo…
Remembering the victims of the New Orleans terror attack • Remembering the victims of the New Or…
PBS NewsHour – January 7, 2025 (07:26)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he intends to resign as prime minister and the leader of the Liberal Party after a rapid decline in his approval rating. A new party leader will be selected by March and will face a formidable challenge in the upcoming elections. Amna Nawaz discussed more with Roland Paris.
PBS NewsHour, January 6, 2025 – 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm (ET)
Krugman wonks out, – January 7, 2025
Forty years of gaming the system
If DOGE, President Musk’s not-really-a-government-agency charged with cutting spending by eliminating waste, were serious, the costly, ongoing privatization of Medicare would almost surely be its highest priority target.
First things first. Many people believe that the private sector is more efficient than the public sector, and few now want the government to, say, operate factories. But the key driver of efficiency in such cases is competition, not private ownership per se.
It’s much less clear why you would want to privatize when competition isn’t practical, for example where there are natural monopolies — e.g. electricity and water supply. I guess private companies might be more ruthless in controlling costs than government agencies, for example by being willing to fire underperforming employees. But such efficiencies, if they exist, are often outweighed by asset stripping and degradation of service.
Noah Smith, Noahpinion
Biden’s tarnished industrial legacy
He began our Great Rebuilding, but his approach had fundamental flaws.
Paul Krugman
Lessons From New York’s Congestion Fight
“Car brain” is part of a broader syndrome, which we can’t ignore
Free Press
TikTok Brainwashed America’s Youth
“Researchers found that TikTok significantly downplayed negative content related to China,
Tim Snyder, Thinking About
Shadow Cabinet: A Positive Form of Opposition
Quinn Raymond, If you can keep it
How *you* can protect democracy
29 concrete actions you can take right now to protect our system of government
Dr Dan Goyal
The Promise of Democracy: A Fairer and More Equitable Society
Seems like an appropriate day to remind ourselves of the basic tenets of democracy.
Charlie Sykes
The Enduring Shame of January 6
A Day of Infamy that was just the beginning…
Don Moynihan
Jan. 6 and the path not taken
At key moments, Republicans were unwilling to defend democracy
Malcolm Nance from Special Intelligence
January Six Warning: The Las Vegas Terrorist Wanted Civil War
The Pro-Trump Terrorist Demanded One Thing of His Sacrifice … Purge Democrats
Steve Schmidt, The Warning
The cowardice of the capitulators
Stoic Philosophy
LVIII. On What’s Truly Within Your Control
The things in our control are by nature free, unhindered, and unobstructed, while those not in our control are weak, slavish, can be hindered, and are not our own.
Will Trump cook the books? Why assume he won’t?
I know that this may sound as if I’m getting into tinfoil-hat territory. Worse, I may be sounding like a Republican — because whenever there’s a Democrat in the White House, right-wing “inflation truthers” come out of the woodwork, claiming that official numbers are hiding the terrible reality of soaring prices. And, of course, Trump spent the whole campaign making utterly false claims about how much prices — for example, the price of bacon, with which he seemed oddly obsessed — had risen.
In fact, U.S. statistical agencies have a long record of being scrupulously honest. But the same can’t be said of every country. There are, for example, some well-known cases of populist regimes falsifying the numbers to make inflation look lower than it really is. Most famously, Argentina’s statistical agency systematically and massively understated inflation from 2007 to 2015:
January 9, 2025
Steve Newman, Am I Stronger Yet?
Are We on the Brink of AGI?
A Tale of Two Timelines
The Robots are coming: Genesis
2025 might open up a new paradigm for RL learning in robotics. Are we near an inflection point for humanoid general purpose robots?
Michael Spencer and Diana Wolf Torres
2025: A Look Ahead
AI products, research, and policy to watch in 2025
Dean W. Ball
Top AI Tools of 2024
Which AI tools stood out for me in 2024? My list.
Michael Spencer
Luiza Jarovsky
Top 5 AI Governance Trends for 2025
AI Policy, Compliance & Regulation | Edition #160
29 concrete actions you can take right now to protect our system of government
Our democracy has never quite been what it ought to be. If it’s the framework for our entire way of life, shouldn’t we try to make it the best we can? Try to not only protect it, but also nurture and improve it?
There is good news: Regular citizens are the ones best suited to strengthen our democracy. This is especially true at the local level, where our sphere of influence is greatest. Consider our circles of concern, influence, and control.
Learn. Build Community. Engage in political action.
After nearly a decade in power as prime minister and the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau said Monday he would resign from both roles.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process,” Trudeau said. “This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.”
The announcement comes three weeks after one of Trudeau’s closest allies – finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland – resigned from the prime minister’s Cabinet over their differences on how to deal with the incoming Trump administration. Trudeau has also faced falling support from lawmakers, including some within his own party, and public opinion polls.
His resignation as party leader would also end Trudeau’s time as prime minister. Canada’s 2015 federal election vaulted Trudeau’s Liberal Party to a majority of the seats in Parliament, and he became the second-youngest prime minister in the nation’s history.
But Trudeau has faced diminishing support in recent years. After the results of the 2019 election and the 2021 snap election, the Liberals ruled as a minority government. While the party held the most seats in Parliament, it did not hold a majority and needed support from lawmakers in other parties to stay in power and pass legislation.
Trudeau said that the work of Parliament would be delayed until March 24, giving the Liberals time to select a new leader. Under Canadian law, a federal election must happen by October of this year.
PBS NewsHour, January 6, 2025 – 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm (ET)
Incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles tells Axios in an interview that she aims for the West Wing to be a no-drama zone for staff. If that works, it won’t be the chaotic den of self-sabotaging that stymied the early days of President-elect Trump’s first term.
- “I don’t welcome people who want to work solo or be a star,” Wiles, whose boss calls her the Ice Maiden, said by email. “My team and I will not tolerate backbiting, second-guessing inappropriately, or drama. These are counterproductive to the mission.”
Why it matters: Trump’s 2024 campaign was more organized and less leaky than any previous Trump team. Wiles, who was co-campaign manager, gets much of the credit. Two weeks from today, she’ll bring her formula to Washington.
A Tale of Two Timelines: The Slow Scenario and The Fast Scenario
If models continue to fall short in one or two respects, AI’s increasing array of superhuman strengths – in speed, breadth of knowledge, ability to take 1000 attempts at a problem, and so forth – may be able to compensate. But if progress on multiple indicators is slow and unreliable, that will constitute strong evidence that AGI is not around the corner.
We may see nontechnical barriers to AI adoption: inertia, regulatory friction, and entrenched interests. This would not necessarily indicate evidence of slow progress toward AGI, so long as these barriers are not posing a significant obstacle to the ongoing development of AI itself. In this scenario, AI adoption in the broader economy might lag until AI capabilities start to become radically superhuman, at which point there would be strong incentives to circumvent the barriers. (Though if inertia specifically is a major barrier to adoption, this might constitute evidence that AI is still not very flexible, which would suggest slow progress toward AGI.)
A Day of Infamy that was just the beginning…
“As Jan 6 approaches, I can’t help feeling betrayed by those we protected, the failures of the DOJ, the Supreme Court negligence to hold a president accountable, and those who claim to support the rule of law and the police while supporting a violent attack on our democracy and police officers. — Staff Sergeant Aquilino Gonell
“We keep using terms like post-factual, but it almost feels like there’s this national psychosis or amnesia about what happened a year ago. It’s not just that we’re two nations. It’s as if we live on two different reality planets when it comes to the memory of Jan. 6.” —Me, to the AP
Ignore the political propaganda. We live in a world with more fires now, and we need to prepare for it.
In general, the misinformation, finger-pointing, and political opportunism flew fast and furious. But if you remained calm, resisted the urge to dunk on your political enemies, and watched the situation unfold, I think there were a few important signals you could extract from the storm of information. Basically, the lessons I take away from the horrific L.A. fires are:
- The insurance industry as we know it is in big trouble.
- Climate change is making wildfires worse, but there’s not much we can do about that right now.
- Forest management needs to get a lot more proactive, but is being blocked by regulation.
- Wildfire preparedness is just a lot more important than it used to be.
There has been a surge in ‘academic publications’ trying to use science to undermine democracy. Here are some thoughts
If you, like me, feel a strong sense of indignation at such suppositions, it is justified, both morally and scientifically. The so-called science used to justify replacing democracy is weak, to the point of being almost absent.
Both the foundations and the actual science behind these suppositions are fatally flawed. But (and the main reason for writing this article) the claim that ending democracy has ‘scientific backing’ will have, and probably is having, a significant effect on the trajectory of modern democracies worldwide.
The Kusamarian – August 3, 2024 (26:00)
Harry & Braxton discuss the mission of Project Liberty Labs, its work with Social Graphs, Network Effects & the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol – the DSNP. They share about building the Frequency rollup on the Polkadot Tech stack, onboarding MeWe & the ultimate potential of Social Web3.
China’s ‘indoctrination isn’t hypothetical. It’s real.’
Now, an updated study conducted by Rutgers University’s Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI)—provided exclusively to The Free Press—finds that those fears may be justified.
The new research is being released as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments this week about whether the U.S. site must be sold or shut down. TikTok, owned by the Chinese media giant ByteDance, is arguing that federal legislation forcing a sale by January 19 is an unconstitutional limit on free speech. (A lawyer for Donald Trump has asked the Court to delay the sale date so the president-elect can pursue “a political resolution.”)
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)
Project Liberty
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).
TikTok Bid
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.
Before the web was more commercialized, it was personal. In 1994, the web hosting service GeoCities allowed anyone to own a 2 MB parcel of digital land. Handmade and amateur webpages were abundant and unpolished, organized into thematic “neighborhoods” like Napa Valley for wine lovers and foodies, or Silicon Valley for technophiles. At its peak, GeoCities hosted 38 million web pages. A website was a way to represent yourself and connect to others, a space to tend and call your very own.
Today, there are more websites than ever before, but the internet somehow feels more constrained. While new tools have democratized the web, they’ve also flattened it. The imperfect, handmade character of websites has been sanded away in favor of efficiency, and social media platforms have risen in the stead of amateur sites. Many of us conform to these containers and retreat from expressing our authentic selves publicly—what writer and entrepreneur Yancey Strickler calls the ‘dark forest’ of the internet, where genuine expression gives way to self-censorship and fear of judgment.
Yet in certain pockets, a more personal internet persists. Neocities, founded in 2013 to archive GeoCities websites, now offers free hosting services, continuing the legacy of the defunct platform. In the past two years, it’s grown to host nearly a million sites. Institutions like Rhizome, the Center for Net Art, and the School for Poetic Computation hold exhibitions and workshops supporting internet art. Efforts like DWeb, largely supported by the Internet Archive, help actualize a more decentralized and distributed model of the
The Supreme Court case asking if the government can ban TikTok is easier than it looks
As it turns out, the First Amendment arguments for allowing the government to ban foreign adversaries from owning TikTok are stronger than they may initially seem. As Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, one of three appeals court judges who upheld the federal law, explained in a concurring opinion, the federal government has a long history of trying to lock foreign nations out of US communications.
Indeed, current US law prohibits “any foreign government or the representative thereof” from receiving a radio station license, and it broadly bars noncitizens and companies with significant foreign ownership from controlling radio broadcasts.
PBS NewsHour, January 10, 2025 – 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (ET)
The Wrap , – January 6, 2025
The entrepreneur says he’ll need President-elect Donald Trump’s help to close a deal for the social media platform’s U.S. operation
Earlier in the day, O’Leary posted on X that he was partnering with former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt on his bid for TikTok.
The TikTok ban was initially floated during Trump’s first administration, before ultimately being passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden last April. The chief concern U.S. lawmakers have with TikTok is that it doubles as a spyware app for the Chinese government; TikTok, according to Chinese law, is required to share user data with China’s communist government, if it is asked to do so.
Today’s Smerconish Poll
Given Trump’s pardon promises, should the DOJ still prosecute non-violent January 6 participants?
Yes
No
Yesterday’s Poll Results
Will Trump 2.0 be more or less chaotic than Trump 1.0?
78.14% – More
21.86% – Less
*Percentage of 31,769 votes
Associated Press
Congress certifies Trump won the election without challenge, in stark contrast to the 2021 violence
UK leader Starmer slams ‘lies and misinformation’ after attacks from Elon Musk
Heavy snow and ice create dangerous conditions across the U.S.
Politico
‘Stay tuned’: GOP leaders struggle over how to advance Trump’s legislative agenda
The incoming president’s latest comments have caused further confusion among Republican lawmakers, as they grapple with how to pass legislation on the border, energy and taxes.
Axios
Iran 2025: Nuclear crisis awaits Trump
Biden: Jan. 6 is a reminder that democracy “is never guaranteed”
Vox
TikTok should lose its big Supreme Court case
The Supreme Court case asking if the government can ban TikTok is easier than it looks.
by Ian Millhiser
Why are so many men doing ayahuasca?
From Aaron Rodgers to Industry, this psychedelic brew is having a cultural moment with dudes — here’s why.
Kyndall Cunningham
Jan 6, 2025, 7:00 AM EST
Links to AM Headlines
Axios AM Smerconish The Hill Morning Report CNN Breaking News
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LINKS TO OTHER HEADLINES
Associated Press Digital Future Daily (Politico). NPR Politics
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