A Billionaire Has a Plan to Save the Internet—Buying TikTok Is the Next Step

By migrating TikTok implicit to DSNP, Project Liberty says it could standard quickly, making it much competitory against akin protocols. Project Liberty has migrated much than 875,000 retired of 20 cardinal MeWe accounts implicit to DSNP since McCourt’s 2022 $150 cardinal concern successful the platform.

Owning TikTok would supply the task with much than 150 cardinal users, adjacent if the app doesn’t travel with its enviable algorithm. Still, that fig dwarfs successful examination to, say, Facebook’s reported 3 cardinal monthly progressive users.

Despite having existed for much than a decade, unfastened protocols similar DSNP person ne'er been much fashionable than they are now. Mastodon is 1 of the fewer platforms that’s powered by ActivityPub, a protocol akin to DSNP. Meta’s Threads level has besides started incorporating the protocol. Anything you station connected Threads could amusement up connected Mastodon if you take to articulation the “fediverse.”

European antitrust regulations, similar the Digital Markets Act, person forced galore ample platforms to marque their messaging services interoperable arsenic well. Earlier this week, Apple announced that iMessage would enactment the RCS protocol successful iOS18, replacing SMS and allowing for higher-quality images and work receipts to beryllium shared with Android devices.

This premix of competition, regulatory power, and integer idealism has led to an unfastened net renaissance that McCourt is looking to prehend by pursuing TikTok. Still, unfastened protocols aren’t needfully profitable, mostly due to the fact that nary 1 owns them. Capitalism created the web we usage today, warts and all, and it’s hard to deliberation it would fto spell of that power anytime soon.

“Somebody other shouldn't ain us, and we should determine what pieces and parts of our societal graph accusation gets shared with different radical and different platforms,” McCourt said. “This is simply a fantastic opportunity, and the crushed I'm truthful optimistic is that we've had an unthinkable outpouring of enactment from each kinds of radical and institutions and wealth sources that are precise excited astir this.”

Revolutionizing the net is an admirable goal, but it’s inactive not wide if Bytedance is unfastened to selling TikTok astatine all. Even if the institution did divest, it would instrumentality years for TikTok to migrate implicit to DSNP. Maybe by past we’ll each beryllium posting to Reels.

The Chatroom

I’ve been steeped successful fediverse sermon for months present and whitethorn beryllium a spot excessively optimistic astir however it could democratize the internet. Do you deliberation this is wherever the web is headed? How bash you deliberation it could impact governmental sermon and organizing online?

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What Else We’re Reading

🔗 The Hidden Life of Google’s Secret Weapon: For years, Joshua Wright was a staple successful blimpish antitrust statement implicit Big Tech. But a bid of affairs and scandals person led to the lobbyist’s downfall. (The Wall Street Journal)

🔗 Google inactive recommends glue for your pizza: Last month, Google’s AI hunt results were telling radical to enactment glue connected their pizza and devour it, pulling accusation from a Reddit post. We are 2 weeks into June and it hasn’t changed! (The Verge)

🔗 Congress wants Scarlett Johansson to attest connected OpenAI dispute: The House Oversight Committee plans to clasp a proceeding connected deepfakes adjacent month. They’ve asked Scarlett Johannson, dependable of the OS successful the movie Her, to attest aft she accused OpenAI of stealing her likeness. (Axios)

The Download

This week, the WIRED Politics Lab podcast unit is moving a amusive occurrence astir a mates of AI bots moving for nationalist office. Vittoria Elliott and David Gilbert articulation our host, Leah Feiger, to sermon what it means and if it’s adjacent legal. Plus, they get into however immoderate AI chatbots won’t stock the victor of the 2020 US statesmanlike election. Go cheque it retired wherever you perceive to podcasts.

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