Over the past two decades, EU penalties against U.S. tech companies, totaling over $30 billion, have prompted Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to criticize the European Commission’s application of competition rules as akin to a tariff on American businesses. Zuckerberg contends that the U.S. government failed to adequately address this issue, leaving American tech companies vulnerable to EU actions. This criticism follows Meta’s recent €797 million fine for antitrust violations and coincides with the company’s termination of its third-party fact-checking program and DEI initiatives, moves perceived as aligning with a shifting political climate in the U.S. These actions reflect a changing legal and policy landscape impacting Meta’s operations in Europe.
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Russia recently conducted a day-long internet blackout in Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia, blocking access to major foreign websites and apps, even those accessed via VPNs. This action, attributed to Russia’s development of a sovereign internet, follows previous tests involving site throttling and demonstrates a growing effort to control online content. Future plans reportedly include migrating Russian users to domestic web hosting services, further isolating the nation’s internet. These actions parallel similar, though more established, internet censorship practices in China, highlighting a global trend towards a fragmented “splinternet.”
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John Q. Hosedrinker