It’s hard to believe that today marks exactly a year since the publication of Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age — and what a monumental year it’s been.
I decided to write Our Biggest Fight with my co-author, Michael Casey, as a call to arms that the internet as we know it is broken, that we face an urgent crisis as we cede our personhood to authoritarian platforms who give us nothing in return for our data, and that they will continue to exploit us unless we come together to forge a new, better path forward.
But ultimately, I wrote the book to amplify the essential work happening at Project Liberty – to build this movement and develop the infrastructure needed to make the vision put forth in Our Biggest Fight a reality.
What I could not predict was the cascade of opportunities that have been unlocked for Project Liberty since the book launch.
Serendipity struck just over a month after the book’s publication: a federal bill was signed into law that would ban TikTok if the company’s U.S. operations were not sold to an American buyer. Though the impetus for the legislation was to guard Americans against a foreign adversary, the law was rooted in the very problem that launched Project Liberty—that our most popular social media platforms (American or otherwise) surveil, manipulate, and harm us. That law spurred us to launch The People’s Bid for TikTok—a grassroots-led initiative to purchase the app without its exploitative algorithm, migrate it to decentralized technology, and give the 170+ million American users, creators, and businesses on the platform a voice, choice, and stake in how it functions. As it stands today, The People’s Bid is moving full steam ahead. We’ve welcomed new partners and entrepreneurs like Kevin O’Leary and Alexis Ohanian, who have joined our movement alongside original supporters like Tim Berners-Lee and Jonathan Haidt. To this day, ours is the only offer that meets the requirements set forth by Congress and the Supreme Court.
Every day, people from all segments of society are saying “enough is enough” to the incessant manipulation and exploitation online.
Frank McCourt, Founder, Project Liberty
But as I reflect on the past year, The People’s Bid is just one marker of progress in a much longer list of developments. During that time, Project Liberty hosted major Summits at Harvard, MIT, and Georgetown, bringing together hundreds of leaders, technologists, and activists to reimagine the internet and implement innovative solutions. The Project Liberty Alliance has welcomed numerous new members, creating a powerful coalition of more than 130 organizations working toward a shared mission.
At the Project Liberty Institute, the team has worked tirelessly as stewards of the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP)—the protocol developed by the team at Project Liberty to serve as the foundation of The People’s Internet—putting forward comprehensive, research-driven guidelines for the adoption and implementation of ethical models to address the data economy, in addition to engaging the foremost leaders across tech, ethics, and policy as members of the DSNP Advisory Board. Another powerful testament to this work is the success of Frequency, a decentralized, blockchain-based platform, which is built upon DSNP. It has migrated more than 1.5 million users in the last year, and adoption is accelerating, with the introduction of several new, groundbreaking partners who are migrating their user bases.
When Our Biggest Fight was first published, it seemed people were just starting to grasp the magnitude of Big Tech’s damage. However, this issue was still only a blip in the overarching conversation. Now, everyone – from politicians to parents to creators and celebrities to media moguls to young people – is earnestly speaking out about how the technology and algorithms we’ve made part of our everyday lives are harming our society.
The team behind Project Liberty and I have been characterized as optimists, even idealists. If the past year has taught me anything, it’s that our idealism has kept us on the right path. By showing people that there is a better way, they become energized to take the decisive action necessary to create a digital world that serves all of us.
Today, the movement continues to build one year after the book’s publication. Every day, people from all segments of society are saying “enough is enough” to the incessant manipulation and exploitation online. The public understands the threat of internet technology to our liberties. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recognize that we must act for future generations. People are ready to change our digital ecosystem for the better. But we cannot get complacent. Our work is far from finished.
Our Biggest Fight was an opening salvo in what will be the defining battle of our lives – how to create a digital world where people are empowered, not exploited, and humans are free to make their own choices. We must continue this fight for a digital world that uplifts everyone, gives people a fair deal, and allows our children to thrive. The past year was just the beginning, yet I have complete confidence that victory is now within our reach. Our movement for greater liberty and dignity continues – and I hope you’ll join us.