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With just 10 days until the US ban on TikTok takes effect, businessman Frank McCourt’s internet advocacy nonprofit Freedom Project announced Thursday that it has submitted a proposal to buy Chinese technology company ByteDance’s social media site.
Project Liberty and its partners, known as “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” would restructure the app to exist on a U.S.-owned platform and prioritize users’ digital security, the project said in a statement. statement.
“We have submitted a proposal to ByteDance to realize Project Liberty’s vision of a reimagined TikTok, one built on an American-made technology stack that puts people first,” McCourt, founder of Project Liberty, said in the statement. . “By keeping the platform alive without relying on TikTok’s current algorithm and avoiding a ban, millions of Americans can continue to enjoy the platform.”
A Project Liberty spokesperson said the nonprofit was not disclosing the financial terms of the offer, but confirmed that ByteDance received the proposal.
CNBC has contacted TikTok for comment.
The Supreme Court will listen to oral arguments about the ban, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden last April, on Friday. ByteDance has repeatedly refused to sell TikTok and appealed the legislation on First Amendment grounds.
The case has reached the judicial system. Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the law on Dec. 6, writing that the government’s national security justifications for the ban were compelling enough.
On December 9 court presentationTikTok said the ban would cost American small businesses and social media creators $1.3 billion in revenue and profits in just one month, and that more than 7 million American users do business on TikTok.
The ban, known as the Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act, prohibits distribution and maintenance of the app while it is Chinese owned.
The Popular Offer for TikTok aims to migrate TikTok to an open source platform that allows users greater control of their data, as part of Project Freedom’s mission to build a more empowered Internet for users.
The initiative is partnering with the investment banking group Guggenheim Securities and the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Its backers include digital security advocates, investor Kevin O’Leary and World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee.
