Europe wants to end its dangerous reliance on US internet technology

The Conversation ^ | 01 21 2026 | Johan Linåker

[yesthatjallen]

Imagine the internet suddenly stops working. Payment systems in your local food store go down. Healthcare systems in the regional hospital flatline. Your work software tools, and all the information they contain, disappear.

You reach out for information but struggle to communicate with family and friends, or to get the latest updates on what is happening, as social media platforms are all down. Just as someone can pull the plug on your computer, it’s possible to shut down the system it connects to.

This isn’t an outlandish scenario. Technical failures, cyber-attacks and natural disasters can all bring down key parts of the internet. And as the US government makes increasing demands of European leaders, it is possible to imagine Europe losing access to the digital infrastructure provided by US firms as part of the geopolitical bargaining process.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the EU’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, has highlighted the “structural imperative” for Europe to “build a new form of independence” – including in its technological capacity and security. And, in fact, moves are already being made across the continent to start regaining some independence from US technology.

SNIP

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TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bigtech; dissent; europe; euroweenies; freespeech; internet

[yesthatjallen]

AI Synopsis on This Topic:

European Union lawmakers are pushing for a strategic shift to reduce reliance on U.S. tech giants, driven by concerns over data security, geopolitical vulnerability, and economic sovereignty. On January 22, 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for "digital liberation" through a comprehensive plan to build independent European digital infrastructure. This includes prioritizing European tech providers in public procurement, promoting open-source software, and establishing a "European Sovereign Tech Fund" with up to Euros 10 billion to support strategic projects like sovereign cloud and AI development.

The move is a direct response to growing fears that U.S. companies, such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, control over two-thirds of the European cloud market and over 80% of critical digital infrastructure. The Parliament’s report emphasizes that European data stored under U.S. laws—like the Cloud Act—remains vulnerable to foreign government access, undermining digital sovereignty. In parallel, a coalition of over 80 European tech firms, including Airbus, OVHCloud, and Proton, has urged the EU to adopt a "Buy European" mandate to stimulate demand for homegrown alternatives.

Previously:

W Launches as a Verified Alternative to X in Europe

[butlerweave]

Oh the World Enslavement Forum again

[Newbomb Turk]

What Europe really wants is to be able to censor the internet and control who and who not can use the internet.

Control the internet, control the people.

Control speech and control banking. Say the wrong thing, you can't get to your bank account anymore.

[Ge0ffrey]

Dangerous?

[GingisK]

Imagine the internet suddenly stops working.

That would be one of the best things that could happen. The loss of cellular phones needs to accompany that loss.

[MinorityRepublican]

Nah. By the way, it's time for a smoke break.

[Leaning Right]

> What Europe really wants is to be able to censor the internet and control who and who not can use the internet. <

Bingo. Fascist behavior. It’s just that simple.

[FLT-bird]

The EU and European countries would have to dramatically slash regulations and the entire bureaucratic culture. Furthermore they would need to adopt an entrepreneurial culture that rewarded risk taking. They would have to become a lot more risk friendly in their lending decisions and be willing to accept that when you are on the cutting edge of new technologies/companies, there will be some failures and some losses. They would have to not stigmatize those who have started companies or worked in companies that failed and lost money for their investors.

Having gone to school and worked in multiple European countries in the 90s and 00s, I saw this first hand. Americans are simply more risk friendly. A business failure or 3 does not mean you are a failure in the US. It means you're trying. Investors in the US do not look down on people who have a good plan and a product if they have a few "battle scars". Indeed many successful people failed their first few times.

Next, the entire culture in Europe of insisting on complete control/domination by bureaucrats and politicians would have to change.

Obviously these radical changes in culture and mentality and legal structure are not going to happen. Its not a coincidence that America has a tech sector and Europe does not.

[econjack]

I seem to recall France saying it would not adopt any technology words that are based on American English. Umm...where did the word “internet” come from?

[FLT-bird]

Bingo. Fascist behavior. It’s just that simple.

That's definitely a big part of it. The politicians/bureaucrats in Europe are losing control and they know it. Part of it though is also economic. In 2008 the EU had a larger GDP was 110% of US GDP. Now EU GDP is only 67% of US GDP. The US has massively outperformed the EU in the last 25 years. So we have political and economic reasons. The 3rd reason is ego. Europeans desperately want to think of themselves as advanced and cutting edge. They subsidized the hell out of Airbus and the European space agency and celebrated when they overtook NASA for satellite launches. Now SpaceX has blown them away pioneering reusable rockets and does 85% of all global launch mass.

There is no European Tesla, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Starlink, YouTube, NVIDIA, SPACEX, Microsoft, Amazon, OpenAI, Grok, Rumble/Locals, Substack......they are being left in the dust. This hurts their egos badly in addition to politics and economics. Do we even need to discuss the most advanced weapons?

[SmokingJoe]

The EU can't create trillion dollar tech companies, but continue to steal from big US companies anyway.

Grok:

The most recent major EU fine against Google was issued by the European Commission on September 4-5, 2025. Google was fined €2.95 billion (approximately $3.45–3.5 billion USD, depending on exchange rates at the time) for breaching EU antitrust rules.

This penalty stemmed from abusive practices in the online advertising technology (adtech) sector, where Google was found to have distorted competition by favoring its own services (e.g., in ad exchanges, servers, and buying tools).

[Empire_of_Liberty]

I’ll admit, I don’t understand how the Internet goes beyond national boundaries. China doesn’t let it.

Let the Europeans strangle their own people. I’m glad I don’t live there. I don’t think America deserves their censorship any more than it does, King Charles.

[butlerweave]

Whenever the EU needs cash it fines something/someone on the internet ,LOL

[SmokingJoe]

“There is no European Tesla, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Starlink, YouTube, NVIDIA, SPACEX, Microsoft, Amazon, OpenAI, Grok, Rumble/Locals, Substack......they are being left in the dust. “

Yup.
And their car companies are being challenged in world markets and even in Europe by the Chinese.

[libertylover]

What Europe really wants is ...

You nailed it!

[rdcbn1]

The European culture and socialist systems are not conducive to high tech in the same way the US and Asian cultures are.

It's really frustrating working with the Europeans

Europe is generations behind and lacks the talent, the finances ( short of the the Gulf States oil money) and industrial base to compete with the US and the Asians The have isolated areas of excellence but they are siloed and can't put together the total package

Given the increased pace of technology development it's hard to see how they can catch up short of a broad based EU initiative. Problem is that the EU leadership is simply not competent and serious minded enough to get the job done

[Carry_Okie]

The Internet needs a competitor.

[FLT-bird]

I’ll admit, I don’t understand how the Internet goes beyond national boundaries. China doesn’t let it.

You fire up your browser and go to Google. Did you go to Google US? No. You went to Google.com. That's the same with other companies' websites. That's their address. That is accessible anywhere in the world once you're on the internet. The internet has no national borders. China erected "the Great Firewall of China" which though no perfect because people in China who are tech savvy can get around it, does block social media and other sites the CCP does not approve of and of course the CCP also tracks IP addresses so they can see who is trying to access certain "forbidden" sites, who made a comment on social media sites the CCP does not approve of etc.

[cp124]

Good luck with the India software if you figure out the UI.

[FLT-bird]

Given the increased pace of technology development it's hard to see how they can catch up short of a broad based EU initiative. Problem is that the EU leadership is simply not competent and serious minded enough to get the job done

A broad based EU initiative is not going to get it done. The problem is cultural....and on many levels. The bureaucrats and politicians and bankers would have to give up control to allow the kind of free wheeling entrepreneurialism the US has. Also, they'd have to change how risk averse they are - and that's a deeply ingrained mindset. You go bankrupt in Europe, your name is Mud. Nobody forgets. They hold it against you for the rest of your life. You don't get more financing - ever.....at least not unless you are very well connected politically.

The whole idea of easy hiring and firing.....of creative destruction...this is anathema to them. Then there is the whole matter of them taxing the Bejeezus out of you so after taking all that risk and putting in all the effort to make a startup work, you don't get to keep anywhere near as much of the fruits of your risk taking and effort. So you just don't do it. Instead you head over to America to work in the tech sector. You take your startup idea to American investors.