TikTok is officially on the chopping block, folks.
Last Friday, a federal appeals court upheld a law that could result in the app being banned from operating in the United States next month. Even if President Joe Biden decides to extend that deadline by another 90 days, TikTok still has a pretty tight timeline to find a way out of this mess.
Earlier this year, I spoke with Frank McCourt for this newsletter about his bid to buy TikTok. After the events of last week, I thought it was a good time to talk to him again. Plus, I got insight into how creators are preparing for a post-TikTok future.
Let’s talk about it.
There are three options left for TikTok right now. The company could win an appeal, forget about all of this, and return to normal operations (eventually). Next year, the app could be banned. Or, someone with deep pockets could buy TikTok’s US business from ByteDance. Wednesday afternoon, my colleague. Zeyi Yang and I spoke with Frank McCourt, the billionaire former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers who wants to do just that.
McCourt’s motivation is not only to save TikTok but to reinforce a personal project of his. Through his Project Freedom initiative, he has made what he calls a “people’s bid,” bringing together a variety of investors and groups that share his vision of a more open network. To achieve this, you would apply Project Liberty’s Decentralized Social Networking Protocol, or DSNP, to TikTok. The protocol would allow users to export their friends and followers to a new TikTok. And after Friday’s court decision, McCourt is more confident than ever that his team will soon execute and possibly rebuild the app.
In our conversation, McCourt argued that a sale would make everyone happy, including ByteDance, users, and the US government. McCourt has offered $20 billion for the app’s brand, user base and existing content to expand his vision of a more privacy-friendly, interoperable Internet that competes with companies like Meta and Google. He doesn’t “need or want” the algorithm that runs TikTok’s For You page, he says.
When asked if Project Liberty could maintain TikTok’s existing user base without the beloved algorithm, McCourt said, “People don’t know what they don’t have until you show it to them.”