What would billionaire Frank McCourt actually do with TikTok

People don’t know what they don’t have until you sell it to them, right? And I’m very confident that when people see that there’s a version of TikTok 2.0 where they prepare their algorithm, they’re responsible, and they own themselves and analyze their data and get value for it, people will push for it. They will rush to it. This is a much better model.

We can debate this all day, but we’ll be the ones taking the risk. We are the ones putting in the money and saying this is going to work. ByteDance can shut it down or they can get the money for the platform and wish us luck.

Currently, TikTok is associated with specific types of content such as dance, silly videos and a younger audience. Do you intend for the new version of TikTok to keep this focus?

Well, I think the Gen Z consumer base is critical to be engaged because young people create culture. And TikTok is a culture maker if ever there was one. But I want to add that recent studies show that for 47 percent of Gen Zseven though they use it several hours a day, they wish it had never been invented. Because of the highly addictive nature and how they feel sometimes right after spending so much time. So let’s build a healthier version where it’s a super polished app that’s easy to use and looks very similar to how it looks now. But users are responsible.

Do you believe that giving teenagers complete control without a manipulative algorithm will help them reduce their screen time?

I think once you put control in the hands of individuals, people will make their own choices. Some will make good choices, some will make bad choices. What’s really important, though, is that when you’re talking about very young people, the parents have to have some ability to be parents. Young people must be mentored. They have to be parents, and now it’s very difficult for parents to compete (with the algorithm).

So we have to back off. TikTok is awesome. We want to keep it alive. Let’s create a better version of it. But you know what: healthy teenagers are cool too. Being a good parent is great too. Individual human rights and their protection are also great. The protection of American citizens is also great.

If TikTok’s Supreme Court appeal takes a while, will you still want to buy the app, even if it’s months or years from now?

Yes, we are arranged to do this when it happens. What’s a great coincidence to me here is that this legislation happened and TikTok could be up for grabs. Because moving 170 million people to a new stack will catalyze this alternative upgraded internet very quickly. Right now, one of the big problems we have is that we’re discussing things about this internet, but until there’s no other choice, people are kind of blocked.

I liken this to large-scale human physical migration. There are people who live in very difficult places – in the case of my ancestors there was famine – they really want to go somewhere else. But there is a second condition, which is that you need a place to go. People are now starting to understand the harms of the current internet and the fact that they are being taken advantage of and not being rewarded properly or fairly. But nothing will happen unless there is an alternative and somewhere to go.