American rhetoric in defense of its technology industry comes at a time when Europe’s dependence is already well advanced. No sooner have these overtures been called into question than once new arguments arise to sustain European passivity. Recently, freedom of expression has been exploited by the American political establishment to undermine any plans by a foreign state for digital regulation; in this view, regulating the tech sector is construed as an assault on liberty and democracy itself, whose terms are, of course, to be determined and judged by Washington alone. At this juncture, Europe is unable to escape the rhetorical clutches of a United States determined to preserve its technological as well as geopolitical stranglehold.
~ Baptiste Detombe via American Affairs

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