A court can be switched off from Washington

On Friday the US put the entire International Criminal Court on its sanctions list. In six months, 900 people in The Hague may lose their Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, Visa and Mastercard accounts. Not for a crime. For doing their job.

The same day, former ICC judge Navi Pillay received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on international justice. One side of the Atlantic hands out a prize, the other hands out a kill switch.

Big tech will comply. They always do. And that is the moment every European institution will ask itself the same question: if a court can be switched off from Washington, what about a ministry, a hospital, a bank?

I built my career on American tech. I use Azure every day, and I will tomorrow. But when I see how easily these companies follow this administration, I would like to have more choices here in Europe.

The problem is not talent or money. It is a lack of entrepreneurship and a lack of common vision. China built its own ecosystem of apps and AI in fifteen years, with focus and unity. We can do the same, if we want it as badly as they did.

First published on LinkedIn.