US Big Tech at the Service of Donald Trump?

What many European companies had predicted at the end of March actually happened in mid-May. Microsoft deactivated the Outlook account of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to comply with an executive order by Donald Trump . This confirms the need to find alternatives to the services of US Big Tech.

Trump has signed an executive order to impose sanctions on Karim Khan , the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as he has sought an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity. One of the sanctions is a ban on U.S. companies providing services to Khan.

Microsoft complied with the executive order by disabling Khan’s Outlook account . Some members of the International Criminal Court decided to use Proton Mail . The Redmond company later changed its policy to protect European users from such requests. Following sanctions against four judges, the accounts were not blocked.

What happened has alarmed European companies and governments. Trump can exploit the dominance of US Big Tech as a retaliation against his “enemies”. It is necessary to find alternative solutions to reduce dependence on their services. Amazon, Google and Microsoft controlled over 70% of the cloud market.

The European Union has announced billions of euros in investments in building data centers and creating a cloud infrastructure. Governments have been advised to sign contracts with European providers. Citizens can also do their part by choosing a European service. A dedicated website lists the possible alternatives.