Paris Marx is joined by Cecilia Rikap to discuss how countries’ dependence on US tech companies is harming them and why they need to get serious about digital sovereignty. Cecilia Rikap is Associate Professor in Economics at University College London and Head of Research at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on <a href='https://www.patreon.com/techwontsaveus'>Patreon</a>. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode:<ul><li>Cecilia (and Paris!) worked on a report offering a roadmap to <a href='https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10202865/'>reclaiming digital sovereignty</a>.</li><li>The UK Labour Party forced the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority to <a href='https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/21/chair-of-competition-watchdog-steps-down-after-labour-intervention'>step down</a> earlier this year to promote its pro-growth agenda.</li><li>A Microsoft executive told a French Senate committee that it <a href='https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/25/microsoft_admits_it_cannot_guarantee/'>could not guarantee data sovereignty</a> if the US government requested information stored on its servers in Europe.</li><li><a href='https://www.reuters.com/technology/brazil-prosecutors-question-meta-over-changes-fact-checking-program-2025-01-08/'>Alexandre de Moraes is the Brazilian judge</a> pushing back against big tech.</li><li>The US is sanctioning judges <a href='https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/international-criminal-court-deplores-new-sanctions-us-administration-against-icc-officials'>from the ICC</a> (as well as <a href='https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/30/us-sanctions-brazils-supreme-court-judge-overseeing-case-against-bolsonaro'>Alexandre de Moraes</a>)</li></ul><a rel="payment" href="https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus">Support the show</a>

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