Who Owns the Digital Infrastructure?
The Alleged Threat: 'Digital Backdoors' and Foreign Eavesdropping The explicit rationale provided by the French government, aligning with broader EU concerns, is the protection of sensitive data from foreign surveillance, particularly under US legislation such as the CLOUD Act (2018). This act grants US law enforcement the power to compel US-based tech companies to provide data stored on servers
anywhere in the world, regardless of local data protection laws. The Independent's article notes that the European Commission has similar concerns, with officials being warned against using US-based services. The Unspoken Precedent: Mass Surveillance Programs This concern is not theoretical. Edward Snowden's revelations in 2013 exposed the extent of US government surveillance programs, most
notably PRISM, which collected data directly from Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Apple, and other tech giants. These programs demonstrated that the infrastructure of global communication was, in effect, extensions of US intelligence capabilities. France's current actions echo the warnings issued by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2013, when it was revealed that the US National Security Agency
(NSA) had wiretapped her phone, sparking a diplomatic crisis between allies. The consistent pattern shows European nations repeatedly reminded of their digital vulnerability. The Double Standard of 'Security' CASE A: The current framing, as presented in The Independent and numerous other outlets, applauds France's "digital sovereignty push" as a legitimate and necessary measure to protect national