Malte EngelerToday is the first "Digital Independence Day" #DID, proclaimed at the #39C3 by several digital policy NGOs and EU corporations. It advocates switching from Chrome to Firefox, from GMail to ProtonMail, from Google Search to Ecosia etc This is framed in the familiar story of taking away power from US tech monopolies and strengthening (European) alternatives.
The name "Independence Day" (intentionally or not) evokes picture of the US declaration of independence towards the British Empire, turning the American colonies into sovereign states. This mirrors how European policymakers talk about "digital sovereignty" and how the broader tech community is focussing on "Big Tech“, or the „Broligarchy“ etc.
Much has been said about "digital sovereignty" and how it risks reproducing notions of nationalism, patriotism and European exceptionalism while obfuscating more systemic issues of market based economies, e.g. in this post by @alineblankertz:
https://www.structural-integrity.eu/on-tech-sovereignty-how-to-nail-jelly-to-a-tree/
On tech sovereignty - how to nail jelly to a tree
After briefly commenting on the EuroStack, politics have continued to escalate, warranting another, slightly longer post on the broader European perspective. What is the policy context, what kind of sovereignty is implied in the current policy developments, and what is to make of this? Europe’s a
Just as with "digital sovereignty" I have substantial reservations regarding the value of a campaign like "Digital Independence Day". While I undoubtedly encourage everyone to use services that are less toxic than others this focus on individual usage and European alternatives comes with all the baggage discussed at length elsewhere.
It focusses on monopolies while ignoring that all capitalist competition demands corporations to favor profit over user interests, no matter whether it is a US or EU tech company. It focuses on supposedly "ethical alternatives" while ignoring that no corporation is your friend. European tech companies might appear less problematic right now but they still are privately owned corporations. Switching to their services is like choosing a more polite or familiar tyrant.
The question (for me) is: Do the benefits of campaigns like #DID outweigh its downsides? The answer for me - sadly - is: No, they do not. Campaigns like these take away attention from truly transformative approaches like socializing digital platforms. I hear people saying that you can do one thing and still also do the other. I don't think it works like this. At least not when the latter message is not front and center in campaigns that focus on the first.
Okuna@malteengeler I think the main topic is because the monopolies and big tech are 99% coming out of the US and the alternatives are small and mostly coming from Europe. We identify the digital independence day with getting away from US companies while it actually should mean we are getting away from monopolies.
I totally agree we should change the business models, but I don't see this happen and I don't see even first steps taken, so I think this could send at least a message.
We should really think about independence and being in power of our own devices.
This to me also means fridges, washing machines, etc. And here I also see that we become more and more dependent on cloud and accounts. By European companies
I totally agree we should change the business models, but I don't see this happen and I don't see even first steps taken, so I think this could send at least a message.
We should really think about independence and being in power of our own devices.
This to me also means fridges, washing machines, etc. And here I also see that we become more and more dependent on cloud and accounts. By European companies
@Okuna What you describe is what most people are (I guess) supposed to make of the campaign. And it is exactly what I am worried about: You assume (or your words insinuate) that monopolies are a foreign element to capitalism, that EU corporations are somehow different and that they will not in a heartbeat kill for the chance to be exactly what Big Tech is now. It is this kind of myths that are reproduced that I am afraid of.
@malteengeler then my insinuation was wrong. What I wanted to say was that currently in the digital space the monopolies are American and this is the reason why people mix it up with the geopolitical situation. Being against US tech. I am against monopolies, no matter in which country they are, and I am against being highly dependent, no matter where the companies are based or come from. If there would be a Hungarian monopoly in the digital space or in any other space, I would have exactly the same ideas than with the American big tech at the moment.
@malteengeler to me, monopolies are a topic in capitalism. Twenty years or longer ago, I always claimed, and was laughed about, that the final version of capitalism is monopolies. And that hence we have to be very careful with our capitalism. And since Europe is capitalistic as well, we face the same issues. There is a slight difference in capitalism in the US and in Europe, but at the end of the day, even European companies would like to be in the same position as big tech is. To give you an example, we have fewer car companies than 50 years ago.
@Okuna We seem very much in agreement.