Averting the Digital Sovereignty Trap

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The following text is based on my “keynote provocation” during a panel discussion on “What Digital Sovereignty Means for Civil Society”, organized by the Swiss chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC) in Zurich on March 27th, 2026.

Today’s debate on digital sovereignty feels like an intense case of déjà vu: For the better part of the past thirty years, Europe’s key policy-makers have kept playing a familiar song to convey a sense of urgency and impose their latest stripe of industrial policy. That song goes something like this:

Digital Sovereignty on Félix Tréguer

Averting the Digital Sovereignty Trap