McCourt, founder of Project Liberty, joined Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, and Nighat Dad, a member of Facebook’s Oversight Board, for a panel on digital governance.
PARIS, Nov. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — On Friday, November 12, Frank McCourt, founder of Project Liberty, participated in a panel at the 2021 Paris Peace Forum on “Fixing Platform Regulation,” alongside Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower; Nighat Dad, founder of the Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistan, and member of the Facebook Oversight Board; and moderator Marietje Schaake, president of the CyberPeace Institute.
McCourt discussed digital governance issues surrounding data ownership, which has created inequity in the online economy, and social media’s role in eroding trust and incentivizing the spread of misinformation. McCourt believes a new system is needed to solve these problems.
Project Liberty seeks to transform how the internet works to strengthen democracy, restore trust, and create a more equitable digital economy. The project includes a groundbreaking open-source protocol, DSNP, to serve as a new infrastructure for the next generation of the web, as well as the McCourt Institute, a new organization established to help ensure that digital governance is embedded into and prioritized in the development of new technology.
“New technology by itself is not going to solve any problems,” said McCourt during the panel. “We need to have a conversation about this and decide what we want this technology to do and for whom.”
McCourt also discussed the need for a new technology model, something Project Liberty would provide, during an interview at the Forum with France 24.
“So much of our time and energy right now is spent trying to fix [our current tech model], trying to constrain it, and trying to repair the damage done,” said McCourt during the interview. “Project Liberty is about a new model, transforming the way that the internet works, giving agency to individuals so individuals own and control their data.”
The full Paris Peace Forum panel is available here and the France 24 interview is available here. More information on Project Liberty can be found at projectliberty.io.