Frank McCourt, the real estate mogul, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and a longtime critic of how tech companies use data, is reportedly assembling a consortium to buy TikTok’s U.S. business.

In March, the House of Representatives passed a bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S. if it doesn’t split from its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance Ltd. The company has since challenged the bill and a number of names have been put forward as to who might make the purchase. Until now, McCourt’s name has not been on that list.

McCourt has been very critical of how data is used and exploited, how privacy is breached, and how social media apps can create a minefield of mental health problems for young people. And TikTok has been in the firing line on numerous occasions for the latter.

McCourt is responsible for founding “Project Liberty” in 2021, which, according to its website, is “an ecosystem of technologists, academics, policymakers and citizens committed to building a better internet.” Through this initiative, McCourt hopes to acquire TikTok and transform it into something less addictive, more private and less exploitative.

It’s uncertain how the TikTok drama will unfold. The app is used by almost half the entire U.S. population. If it were to disappear suddenly, it could be a sad day for the U.S.’s cherished First Amendment. There has already been plenty of backlash against the bill, with a number of critics stating the forced sale is more about censorship than any issues the government has concerning China and national security.

It’s also unlikely that any of the leading tech firms will try to acquire the app, given they would almost certainly open themselves up to antitrust lawsuits. It’s reported that McCourt has already discussed raising the money to buy TikTok with the investment bank Guggenheim Securities and legal advisers at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

“We doubt very much that China would sell TikTok with the algorithm,” he told the New York Times. “We’re the one bidder that doesn’t want the algorithm because we’re talking about a different architecture, a different way of thinking about the internet and how it operates.”

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