Gelernter and Rosenthal's proposal takes an eccentric approach to addressing complaints with Facebook that are becoming increasingly mainstream. The platform has come under scrutiny in recent months from regulators, lawmakers, and politicians for its handling of user privacy and content moderation.
But unlike Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has made regulating tech giants a central platform of her presidential campaign, Gelernter has a more libertarian outlook on combating monopolies.
"The real alternative for Facebook is either government regulation on the one hand, or free market competition, which instead of imposing arbitrary rules, limits, and procedures on Facebook, lets a thousand new social networks appear, or a million. We will aid that process by making our own database," Gelernter said.