Former US President Donald Trump, once a stern critic of China’s TikTok, has said he will never ban the short-video app in the US if he is brought to power in the country’s election in November. Trump's remarks are a sharp U-turn from his earlier stance on the app, given it was he who began the US crusade against TikTok during his presidency in 2020. At the time, he attempted to ban the app calling it a national security concern due to the personal data it collected on its 100 million American users. That plan was, however, struck down by US courts. Trump recently joined TikTok as part of his election campaign against US President Joe Biden, who already has a profile on the app. The Biden government has passed a new law requiring TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to divest the app or face a ban in the US. Trump called Biden the 'worst president in history' and pledged to never ban TikTok.
US real estate billionaire Frank McCourt aims to buy TikTok to rescue the internet from major platforms that he believes are destroying society and endangering children. McCourt is campaigning for a 'new internet' that would wrest control of the web away from major platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or X. Acquiring TikTok would give his project, known as Project Liberty, a whole new scale. Trump's former secretary of the treasury, Steve Mnuchin, is also advancing a bid for TikTok. The Chinese government has said it would not accept the divestment of TikTok.
Frank McCourt, the real estate tycoon and former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is leading a bid to acquire TikTok through his initiative, Project Liberty. McCourt aims to reshape the internet's societal impact by transitioning TikTok to an open-source model where users own their data. To finance the transaction, McCourt has enlisted Guggenheim Partners and other major investors. The plan involves implementing a decentralized protocol called the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP) to dismantle current data control mechanisms and empower users. McCourt faces competition from other high-profile figures interested in acquiring TikTok, and ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, has opposed the forced divestiture. However, McCourt remains committed to his bid and plans to unveil new partners in the consortium every week to garner broader support for his vision. [66596910] [81d4a8b5] [6a152bf0] [acf59617] [4bf6b2b4] [e1728dfd] [79f139c9]