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Europe Governments moving away from US social media companies.

HugalHugal Shipmate
edited June 3 in Purgatory
Several European governments and the EU in particular are moving away from US social media and messaging apps. They are talking about jobs, sovereignty and the current US government (China as well). The big two governments can get info from their social media companies. China in particular.
The European governments are encouraging their citizens to change as well. Is it even possible to do? Should it be done? Are the US and Chinese companies too big now?

Comments

  • BullfrogBullfrog Shipmate
    I mean, I'm an American and I'm also moving away from American social media. I've been using bsky intermittently but that's about it. I think social media has been generating more heat than light for a while now, not just American.

    And the way mass social media has turned into a snooping operation for governments and corporations is just another reason to tune out and find other places to socialize, like here.
  • HugalHugal Shipmate
    edited June 8
    I don’t think people understand how big this is. Microsoft were found to be giving a good amount of data on Dutch civil servants to the US government thanks to Microsoft cloud. Data that should be private. Europeans governments are subject to US laws that govern US tech companies. The change is massive for the countries doing it. I don’t have time to get into details now but trust me.
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate, Heaven Host
    Hugal wrote: »
    I don’t think people understand how big this is. Microsoft were found to be giving a good amount of data on Dutch civil servants to the US government thanks to Microsoft cloud.

    I'd like to know more about how this happened, as between Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-US DPF this *really* shouldn't happening and Microsoft should have been absolutely hammered by regulators. And I need to update a bunch of risk assessments if I can evidence it happening.
  • peasepease Tech Admin
    edited June 8
    I presume you're familiar with Schrems I, which killed off Safe Harbor, and Schrems II, which killed off Privacy Shield and led to the EU-US DPF. Here's Max Schrems posting on noyb in December 2025 about the most likely legal points of failure:
    EU-US Data Transfers: Time to prepare for more trouble to come

    Most EU-US data transfers are based on the “Transatlantic Data Privacy Framework” (TADPF) or so-called “Standard Contract Clauses” (SCCs). Both instruments rely on fragile US laws, non-binding regulations and case law that is under attack – and is likely blown up in the next months. As instability in the US legal system becomes undeniable and the US shows open signs of hostility towards the EU, it is time to reconsider where our data is flowing – and how long the legal “house of cards” that the EU has built is holding up.
    …
    The only long-term solution is (unfortunately) to limit any data transfers to US providers, insofar as they have “possession, custody or control” of European personal data. There may be more offers where all factual access from the US is technically impossible – however, so far the only realistic protection that is available on the market is to switch to European providers.
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate, Heaven Host
    Yeah, I've been waiting for Schrems III since the DPF was announced. A lot of GDPR compliance relies on EU/UK regulation being a large and credible threat, but when the opposing threat is not just shareholder interest but the deranged regime in Washington the likes of Microsoft will tend to bow to the one that's known to be vindictive and willing to use the judicial and regulatory system to exact vengeance. I've known from the start that the DPF (and the UK's assessment of the US legal regime) largely rests on a couple of EOs that will vanish overnight if Trump thinks he can make money from shredding them, but thought tech giants would be scared enough of being pushed out of Europe to restrain him.

    I raised this at a meeting this afternoon and concluded that this is:
    1. A problem way above my paygrade
    2. Probably not as big a threat to us in reality mostly because the data we process holds little interest to the US govt.
    3. Massively complicated to do anything about given how embedded we are into US systems. Aside from all the things based on Azure, AWS and Google Cloud we directly utilise cloud products from Microsoft, Google and Adobe (and that's just the biggies).
  • Barnabas62Barnabas62 Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    edited June 9
    I had some problems decoding this. The implication appears to be that any data which is in the hands of tech giants can no longer be guaranteed to be protected. If the Trump administration wants that data it’s more than likely that it will get that data. That’s the current risk.

    Is that a correct summary?
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate, Heaven Host
    Barnabas62 wrote: »
    I had some problems decoding this. The implication appears to be that any data which is in the hands of tech giants can no longer be guaranteed to be protected. If the Trump administration wants that data it’s more than likely that it will get that data. That’s the current risk.

    Is that a correct summary?

    That's my take. And not just the admin but Congress as well. We'd thought that the possibility of legal requests was solely for criminal investigations, and hence unlikely to be relevant to anything we did, but now it looks likely that anything politically useful is considered fair game.

    My worry is that the regime will start demanding Microsoft, Amazon and Google start trawling their servers for information on people seeking visas, or identifying trans people or people who've terminated a pregnancy.
  • Barnabas62Barnabas62 Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    @Arethosemyfeet

    Thanks. That’s a real worry. Once cats are out of the bag they stay out. Even if a more enlightened administration takes over.
  • Jane RJane R Shipmate
    And this is why so many people are concerned about the UK government's contracts with Palantir. Yes, if someone names their company after an incredibly powerful artifact that was used by an evil overlord to destroy two of his major opponents, the obvious thing to do is hand all your medical data over to them... 🙄🤬
  • chrisstileschrisstiles Hell Host
    And as if the name isn't enough, there are the public utterances of at least three of the senior figures who either lead or have funded the company (Karp, Lonsdale, Thiel).
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Facebook seems to be down at least in my city. Is this a wider phenomenon?
  • HugalHugal Shipmate
    It was a bit dodgy here in South Wales
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