Do not invite big-tech to join your digital autonomy discussion

# Do not invite big-tech to join your digital autonomy discussion - Bert Hubert's writings Source: [https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/do-not-invite-big-tech-to-your-digital-autonomy-discussion/](https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/do-not-invite-big-tech-to-your-digital-autonomy-discussion/) Some time ago, I attended an event to discuss European digital autonomy and digital dependencies\. I accepted the invitation without checking too carefully, and I belatedly found out that most of US big tech was invited as well, and would be presenting their thoughts\. Now, even in our gloriously digitally autonomous future, we’ll still be doing business with Microsoft, Google and Amazon\. And it is fine if they have a role\. However, if we want to discuss how to improve our digital autonomy,**employees from US big tech will not usefully contribute to the conversation**\. They can’t\. And in fact, they’ll likely actively prevent progress by restating old talking points, like how \(despite tons of legal analysis to the contrary\) Microsoft is somehow able to shield us from the vagaries of the US administration\. I recall Microsoft vice\-president Brad Smith explaining how Microsoft would go to court to protect European rights and within a week, Microsoft told the International Criminal Court that it had to remove several employees from Microsoft services, because of US sanctions\. Microsoft pointedly did not go to court to defend the ICC\. If you invite US big tech to your event, you’ll spend some of your time listening to fairy tales\. And if you are lucky someone is present to debunk these stories\. But still, if Amazon just got 10 minutes of speaking time to talk about their supposedly sovereign cloud, and then someone else says it is not true, the meeting is still left with the impression that it*could*be true\. The issue has successfully been “both\-sidesed”\. Also, you lost 15 minutes of your day\. Any increase in European sovereignty will lead to a loss of business for US big tech, and they know this\. They do not come to your event to help Europe lower their profits\. They come to raise doubts or with dubious attempts to be “part of the solution”\. We also no longer invite the[tobacco](https://applications.emro.who.int/docs/FS-TFI-198-2019-EN.pdf)and[alcohol companies](https://www.iard.org/)to health events\. These people too wanted to be part of the solution and look where it got us\. Now, we do not need to cast Microsoft, Google, Amazon etc out of our lives\. And in meetings, their people are also nice to work with, sometimes very much so even\. But for all that is holy, do not invite big tech people to “help” you gain independence from big tech\. Thanks\. PS: This also goes for “European” industry organizations that[have been co\-opted by US big tech](https://www.nldigital.nl/)\. Also do be aware of just[how much money big tech is spending on think tanks and other civil society organizations](https://corporateeurope.org/en/2025/10/big-tech-lobby-budgets-hit-record-levels)\. They don’t do this[out of the goodness of their hearts](https://corporateeurope.org/en/2026/06/eu-corporate-lobby-league-2026)\!