Post

Dave Keating
@davekeating.substack.com

It begins. The EU lawmaker who was in charge of digital affairs during 🇪🇺President von der Leyen's first term has been banned from entering the United States, because the 🇺🇸 tech giants and government don't like the EU's tech laws. What will be the 🇪🇺President's response?

theguardian.comFormer EU commissioner and activists barred from US in attack on European tech regulatorsState department accuses group of pressuring tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints through regulation of disinformation

120 reposts226 likes

geenwolkje.bsky.social
@geenwolkje.bsky.social

European IT should be working together as well as 24/7 to get the European digital house in order. Cloud Services, proper office software, database systems. Get digitally self contained. No more American software and cloudservices in all layers of eu government for starters.

Erik
@erikesq.bsky.social

WWW was invented by a Brit working at CERN, but the EU has never tried to drive the Net's tech evolution... Instead, they've always played catch-up with regulations. With a bit of luck, though, Trump and his gang are gone by the time they realise he's not the current digital commissioner...

Dave Keating
@davekeating.substack.com

What's beginning is the use of sanctions against European lawmakers to intimidate them into striking down laws 🇺🇸 doesn't like. That's been threatened for a few months but this is the 1st time they've done it. I'll be writing a Substack about what comes next later today.

Drakoulis
@drakoulis.bsky.social

A strong condemnation probably. Is there a single person in the Commission (or any national government) with the balls to sanction US lawmakers? Or even ex-Cabinet members (since Breton is not an active Comissioner)? Or Musk himself...

Dave Keating
@davekeating.substack.com

This is a critical test for European leaders. 🇪🇺President von der Leyen notoriously loathes her former digital commissioner. But if she and Macron let stand that the US can ban EU lawmakers simply because the government doesn't like EU laws, that is a watershed moment in European servility.

unherd.comVon der Leyen stabs Thierry Breton in the frontUrsula von der Leyen’s second term as European Commission President is not even off the ground, yet the appointment of her new top team is already plagued by problems. Appointments to the EU’s College...
Thorfinn Stainforth
@bxlthor.bsky.social

indeed, seems unlikely to be the hill she will die on... If there was any political leadership all the non-US democracies should band together, draw a line in the sand, and say they can all regulate and tax big tech. They are all fighting individual actions on this exact same issue.

Dave Keating
@davekeating.substack.com

The 🇪🇺Commission "strongly condemns the 🇺🇸decision". The EU has "the sovereign right to regulate economic activity in line with our democratic values and international commitments." "If needed, we will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures."

ec.europa.euStatement by the European Commission on the U.S. decision to impose travel restrictions on certain EU individualsThe European Commission strongly condemns the U.S. decision to impose travel restrictions on five European individuals, including former European Commissioner Thierry Breton.\nFreedom of expression is