Two pioneering initiatives, Project Liberty and Solid, are potentially collaborating to create a more open and user-controlled web. At the 2025 SXSW conference, Frank McCourt, founder of Project Liberty, announced that his organization has been in discussions with Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web and founder of Solid, about a potential integration between the two projects.

During a panel discussion at SXSW, McCourt revealed that his team has been in talks with Berners-Lee about Solid, stating that Project Liberty is compatible with Solid. Although no official partnership was announced, McCourt hinted that discussions are ongoing regarding a potential future collaboration.

McCourt mentioned that they are currently exploring ways to incorporate Solid, including its Solid Pods, into Project Liberty. This potential collaboration could be a significant step towards creating a more decentralized and user-controlled web.

Berners-Lee, known as the father of the World Wide Web, launched Solid in 2018 with the goal of giving users control over their own data. He has also founded Inrupt, a startup built on top of the Solid project, which has developed a privacy platform for enterprises using Personal Online Data Stores, or Pods.

Inrupt’s platform allows individuals to control their data, aligning with Project Liberty’s mission. Berners-Lee has expressed support for Project Liberty’s efforts, even backing its bid to acquire TikTok. He stated, “This project has my support. The web I invented was to provide power and value to individuals, which they do not have at the moment.”

Although there has been no formal collaboration between Solid, Inrupt, and Project Liberty, the latter is focused on developing the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP). This protocol is being adopted by several apps and projects, including MeWe, Soar.com, and the permissionless blockchain Frequency.

Project Liberty has also recently partnered with Free Our Feeds, an effort to protect the AT Protocol, which powers Bluesky’s social network. This partnership aims to build a resilient and open social web.