As I type this, Trump is threatening tariffs on anyone who challenges the interests of America’s technology oligarchs, all of whom are now paying obeisance at this court. Technology is the US biggest weapon against the free world of which it was formerly part, and the right place to fight back. But what can be done?
I’ll start with the most straightforward case. X should be banned outright, for precisely the reasons that the US Congress tried to ban TikTok, and for its general evil and toxicity. We already have alternatives in Bluesky and, more appealingly, the Fediverse. An important additional step would be the establishment of an official platform, open only to legitimate public and non-profit organisations for the kinds of public service functions that have migrated to X, and also to Facebook – weather alerts would be an obvious example.
For the moment, this should be a bargaining chip. It should be made clear that, if Starlink support is withdrawn from Ukraine, or extended to Russia (beyond its current illegal use), both X and Starlink will be blocked by all free countries. Brazil did this a while ago and Musk backed down.
This will presumably trigger tariff threats from Trump. Again the appropriate response isn’t symbolic goods like Jack Daniels, it’s further retaliation against US tech, including limits on intellectual property prohibition of chips that allow remote bricking and so on.
At the extreme end of the difficulty spectrum, it seems impossible to erode US dominance in computer and smartphone operating systems and software. Apple, Google and Microsoft have nearly the entire market. The only serious alternative, Linux, is tiny in comparison. I’d be happy to hear suggestions of possible responses.
Between these two are a range of activities, such as cloud computing and web services, where the US holds a dominant position that may take time to erode.
Finally, and particularly relevant to current crises, the free world needs its own AI program. Deepseek has shown that the resources required are modest. Moreover, there has never been a better chance to recruit US tech talent. With the job cuts made by the big tech companies, and Trump’s decrees denying the existence of whole categories of people, and the full humanity of anyone other than white males, there will be plenty eager to start a new life in a free country.
John Quiggin 
All very good ideas in a sane world. The reasonably democratic nations will have to show great solidarity and act in concert. Otherwise, small and medium powers doing these kinds of things will be called godless socialists or some such nonsense and attacked with anything from tariffs, to sanctions, to military force.
Would you like to know more? (That’s a Starship Troopers joke, movie version.)
Cory Doctorow (2025-01-25) Canada shouldn’t retaliate with US tariffs https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/15/beauty-eh/#its-the-only-war-the-yankees-lost-except-for-vietnam-and-also-the-alamo-and-the-bay-of-ham
… However, there was one part of USMCA that marked a huge departure from NAFTA: the “IP” chapter. USMCA bound Canada and Mexico to implementing brutal new IP laws. For example, Mexico was forced to pass an anti-circumvention law that makes it a crime to tamper with “digital locks.” This means that Mexican mechanics can’t bypass the locks US car companies use to lock-out third party repair. Mexican farmers can’t fix their own tractors. And, of course, Mexican software developers can’t make alternative app stores for games consoles and mobile devices – they must sell their software through US Big Tech companies that take 30% of every sale: …
When Canadian politicians are pressed on why these anti-interoperability policies are good for Canada, they’ll say that it’s a condition of free trade, and the benefits of being able to export Canadian goods to the US without tariffs outweigh the costs of having to pay rents to American companies for consumables (like car parts or printer ink), repair, and software sales. …
The term “insane” as used below means “without logic and without ethics”.
What I meant to say was, those are all good ideas in a sane world but this is no longer a sane world. Even good ideas can lead to insane outcomes in an insane world because of the quite likely insane and violent responses to the good ideas. Nevertheless, the good ideas, the best ideas, have to be pursued somehow. There are no riskless courses from now on. Good ideas still promise some chance of a net benefit above zero. The insane ideas propelling this world currently mean a certain chance of net benefit well below zero and maybe catastrophically below zero.
John
It occurs to me that tariffs are a lot like owning a boat. The two best days are the day they introduced and the day they are removed.
i sell a key allowing someone to enter your living space ,record your activities ,and sell that content without your knowledge or consent then pocket the money and deny responsibility for privacy loss and deleterious consequences.
where is your personal space?
Is it farfetched to be concerned that the US has power over GPS (global positioning System)?
Europe has its own system Galileo