Politico
Project Liberty is an organization building solutions that help people take back control of their digital lives by reclaiming a voice, choice and stake in a better internet.
Today marks one year since Project Liberty announced The People’s Bid for TikTok, a broad consortium of technologists, investors, community leaders, parents and creators working together to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations, without its algorithm. A reimagined TikTok would rely on a cutting-edge decentralized infrastructure that keeps an individual’s data secure and gives people complete control over their digital lives.
Last year, when the federal government mandated that parent-company ByteDance divest TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a ban, Project Liberty saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help Americans reclaim a voice, choice and stake in the future of the web. We set out to acquire TikTok to reimagine the app and the internet more broadly as a beacon of data empowerment and digital sovereignty.
TikTok, with its 170 million American users, is a microcosm of the modern internet. Its invasive data collection practices don’t just present a pressing national security risk to the U.S.; they also power toxic and addictive algorithms that, according to experts like social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, endanger our mental health and stunt our children’s social and emotional development.
