European digital sovereignty helps everyone, not just Europeans
2 min read
Anyone inside or outside the US that thinks they're safe relying on American tech providers and financial institutions should consider how quickly and enthusiastically they carried out the diktats of the Trump regime.
Just in the last week, Google changed Google Maps' references from Lake Ontario to Lake America, and Paypal and the Internet Society froze financial assets and domain names of Autistici/Inventati.
You risk instant humiliation, immiseration, and social death at the whims of a corrupt, vindictive, narcissistic dictator. No due process required or given.
— Dave Wilburn (@DaveMWilburn@infosec.exchange (opens in a new tab)),
As an American, I'm embarrassed by the entire situation. I hate that our country has elected a strongman who only understands the world as a zero-sum, transaction-based order.
Depending on American companies and banks made sense when the US was a friend and ally because that meant Europe never had to build any of that themselves. The US is now using that dependency as leverage that I don't think any country would have knowingly handed to a hostile power, and nobody in Europe ever agreed to that part.
US tech companies have become an oligopoly, and it's not good for anyone. As European countries begin to build their own services, subject to European laws and ethics, that will just give the world more choices. I think it will be harder to do than just re-imagining European versions of AWS or Google I really want them to try.
I hope the Europeans are successful at doing this because it helps all citizens of the world.
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