As the deadline for a possible TikTok ban in the United States approaches, a billionaire has expressed interest in acquiring the app.

Frank McCourt, who established Project Liberty and serves as the executive chairman of McCourt Global, revealed last week his intention to assemble a team to purchase TikTok in a bid to avert a U.S. ban on the platform.

In April, President Joe Biden signed legislation indicating that TikTok will be banned as of January 19, 2025, unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, agrees to sell it. This motion has been in development for numerous years due to concerns from government officials that TikTok potentially shares data of Americans with the Chinese government.

McCourt’s group, branded as “People’s Bid For TikTok” and led by Project Liberty, aims to grant users more control over their personal data. McCourt asserts that he has received verbal commitments for up to $20 billion for this acquisition, as noted on the Project Liberty website.

If Project Liberty successfully acquires TikTok, they would only obtain the U.S. segment of the platform, excluding TikTok’s algorithm, which China regards as its intellectual property, McCourt told CBS’ “Face the Nation” earlier this month. China has previously expressed strong opposition to any complete sale of the app.

As of Monday, neither Project Liberty nor TikTok had responded to requests for comments from YSL News.

Who is Frank McCourt?

Frank McCourt, aged 71, is a former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. As the executive chairman of McCourt Global, which has origins in Boston from the late 1800s, McCourt has made investments across real estate, sports, technology, and media, according to Forbes.

In January 2023, he launched Project Liberty with an investment of $500 million.

What is Project Liberty?

Project Liberty is a movement aimed at decentralizing the internet.

“The internet is fractured and requires urgent repair,” McCourt states on the Project Liberty website. “The institutions and values we hold dear are being compromised thanks to free applications that exploit our personal data and digital identities.”

McCourt’s vision is to unite technologists, academics, legislators, and ordinary internet users to create a “better internet where we control our data, regulate the platforms, and reclaim power,” as stated on the Project Liberty website.

What’s the latest on the TikTok ban?

On December 18, the Supreme Court voted to hear TikTok’s legal challenge against the legislation. TikTok and ByteDance will try to persuade the court that the national security threats posed by TikTok do not outweigh the infringement of free speech rights as highlighted by the law.

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments from TikTok on January 10. If the legislation is upheld by the court and Project Liberty fails to acquire TikTok before January 19, the app will be prohibited in the United States.

This would mean both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store would no longer offer the app for download, and hosting TikTok would become illegal for U.S. internet service providers.