Okay, the thing I will never understand is why they don’t just threaten them with a countrywide ban if they refuse to show up? Or at least some other measure that lets the company know they’re gonna lose money/business if they don’t show up? It’s literally one of the maybe 2 things they would ever respond to in a meaningful manner.
We are talking about 17 mil customers in an economy that is highly digital and depends on these services. Without the EU, we have no negotiation power to threaten anything. We tried to shrink Schiphol airport once due to public outrage about noise. US threatened sanctions and the Dutch gov abandoned their people and bend over. And that was under Biden, not King Tradewar.
Even if we had to follow through with the threat of kicking them out, we’d be so much better off for it in the long run. Companies too big to regulate should be the same thing as companies too unaccountable to be allowed to operate, or we eventually find ourselves and democracy left in control of nothing at all. We are willingly giving our culture and power back over to feudal lords and that’s the core of why things seem to be going to shit
See how that worked out in Nepal
Ban their services nationwide during elections. And pretty much forever after that in the case of American tech.
