#rp25 speaker Paris Marx: Reject US Tech. Embrace Digital Sovereignty.

Europe must embrace digital sovereignty to end its dependence on US tech and reject tech development that puts investors over the public – says tech critic Paris Marx. As for years, governments in Europe and beyond have been trying to grapple with the power of US tech companies without going so far as to overly anger them alongside the US government.

Now that Silicon Valley has allied with Donald Trump’s MAGA movement and explicitly sought to target tech regulation in Europe, the time has come to get far more aggressive with stricter rules and an ambitious agenda to build a real alternative to US tech. However, this undertaking is not just a challenge, but an opportunity to rethink the very model that has guided tech development for the past several decades to ensure public benefits are prioritized over shareholder value and maximizing control.

It's time to work with other likeminded countries around the world to develop digital services and physical infrastructure in order to wean off the european dependence on US tech monopolies. Simply because: we can’t allow the status quo to continue.

Paris Marx is a Canadian tech critic and host of the award-winning Tech Won't Save Us podcast. He writes Disconnect and is the author of ‘Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation‘. His work and commentary is regularly published in major publications.