We had a good run..

Not trying to sound dramatic, but isn’t it weird how all the major social media platforms we use are American? Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), Reddit, TikTok (ok, that one’s Chinese)… but nothing really big that’s actually European.

We talk a lot about digital privacy, tech sovereignty, and how Europe wants to be more independent—but somehow we’re still stuck using platforms that are built, owned, and controlled by companies outside the EU. We’re basically renting our digital lives.

And it’s not just about data privacy or politics. It’s also about missed opportunities. We’ve got talent, we’ve got infrastructure, we’ve got smart people building amazing tech here… so why haven’t we managed to create even one major social network that people actually use?

Even if someone builds one, it ends up either super niche or gets bought up before it grows.

Honestly, I think we really need a social platform that’s: Made in the EU Respects privacy (actually) Doesn’t shove weird algorithmic content down your throat Isn’t just a clone of something that already exists

It’s not even about competing with the US—it’s about having options and not being totally dependent. It feels like we gave up before we even tried.

So I’m curious: What do you guys think it would take for a European platform to succeed? Are there any cool smaller ones out there that just need support? Or is the idea dead in the water already?

Really want to hear what others think about this. Let’s talk. We’ve got so many smart people here in Europe. What are they doing?

It's disgraceful that we're in this situation! It's disgraceful and we should be ashamed of the European Union that we are in the year 2025 and we currently:

1. don't have an European operating system for computers
   
2. don't have an European mobile operating system for smartphones and tablets
   
3. don't have an European CPU manufacturer
   
4. don't have a big European-based social network
   
5. don't have a European semiconductor industry capable of producing cutting-edge chips
   
6. don't have a European e-commerce giant to counterbalance Amazon, Shein, Temu, Alibaba etc.
   
7. don't have a European company that produces flagship smartphones at Apple/Samsung scale (Nokia no longer produces flagship smartphones)
   
8. don't have any European-developed mainstream gaming consoles
   
9. don't have any European equivalent to Hollywood. Why could India create Bollywood? We invest so little in European cinema! Our movies are mostly dramas or comedies with very little special effects. There is no European superhero movie. None.
   
10. don't have a mainstream European PC and laptop manufacturer

It’s frustrating, considering the EU has the talent, resources, and market size to make these things happen. What do you think is holding Europe back? Bureaucracy? Lack of investment? Overregulation?

Europe certainly has the capability to close these gaps, but bureaucracy, fragmented markets, and lack of aggressive investment might be slowing progress.

Do any of these stand out to you as the most urgent? Or do you see some hopeful developments in any of these sectors?

Google doesn't have a privacy problem. Google IS the problem.

Are you a happy Google user? Think about it: By default, Google has access to:

1. Your web activity
2. Your location and address
3. Your emails
4. Everything you type on your phone's keyboard
5. Your Wi-Fi credentials
6. Your age and gender
7. Your WhatsApp history
8. Your photos and voice samples
9. Your payment history
10. Your passwords

The list goes on: just go to Google Takeaway and download the archive. Enjoy.

"But they're just using it to show me their ads!"

Maybe, but according to the Patriot Act, the US government and intelligence agencies have automatic access to your data. This process is fully automated and your data is scanned on a daily basis.

Don't think you're too small and obedient and nobody cares about you. This data can be used to influence your political views or against your friends, colleagues or employer.

Next problem: You cannot just move your data to another provider. There are no open standards for network cloud services. Moving your data is difficult and painful. You are locked in.

You can choose from many European services, but remember: the political landscape can change. Do you have a guarantee that Switzerland, Germany, or France won't become the next U.S., Russia, or China?

How will you move your data from Proton or Tuta? What can stop developers from building backdoors into their services? Basically, only their promises. Not much.

You should be able to switch providers if you care about your privacy.

So far I have only found one portable solution: Nextcloud. It's an open source workspace of German origin used by several European providers (e.g. murena.io from e.foundation). You can switch between providers or even host it yourself.

Moving your data is not enough. You shouldn't use plain android or ios if you don't want your phone to deliver your secrets to Donald's minions. But it can be a good first step.

Some delicious French Brie and an Opinel knife to slice it

Nach vielen Jahren des Konsums endlich weg von Amazon! Mein Geld bleibt jetzt in der EU! 🇪🇺🇩🇪

20:20 : "I think we should, us "Renaissance" (the party's name) ask solemnly to the EU, to activate for the very first time in our history the anti-coercion instrument. This instrument offer extended powers to counter with surgical hits, the deep interests of the new American oligarchy, finance and tech, without penalizing our economy, companies and our farmers"

And yes, a BuyFromEU server is up! :)

I was replying to someone about where to find European muesli but I couldn't find this info on the Carrefour France site. Hold and behold, this site, open source and with an app, also has this information.

They list the ingredients and the countries where goods are produced.

It's also helpful for neighbouring countries where the French do their groceries (for example Germany - there are some Edeka references from the little I've seen) as well as other Francophone countries (I've seen a few Moroccan products). They also list all the countries in which a specific product is sold.

The website is, obviously, only in French.

I'm not affiliated to the website creators, I just found it out by myself and wanted to share this with you.

Image: Meta sending (everyone?) an intrusive message about their ai inside WhatsApp.

Had Sonos speakers for a few years now just because they seemed to be the best on the market (didn’t even know they were American) but they are so bad in terms of connectivity and just getting them to play a fucking song from your phone takes half an hour of pressing buttons and logging on and off of wifi and reinstalling apps - I need a good European alternative if anyone has one they’d recommend?

Our companies are trying to be perfect (open source, no selling of data, etc) but forget that most of us are not perfect consumers. We’re lazy so we want easy and fun to use apps, and we’re not willing to pay if there is a free alternative even if it means our data being sold. Don’t you think now is the time for eu companies to create the same kind of products as Big Tech and focus on usability, cool features and price, even if this means selling data to advertisers and not fully complying with all EU digital laws? Big tech is not going to be banned so unless we compete realistically, EU consumers’ cash is going to keep you on going to Chinese and US companies. I bet most of you are quite educated and can fork out money to pay for services you believe it, like me but let’s be honest, we’re not in the majority. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sharing as much as I can about this group and EU alternatives to US products, but widespread adoption is only going to happen when European platforms are sexy, have good marketing, are easy to use and do not cost much. Please let me know what you think ! Even if you disagree!

I wanna remind you - this initiative ain’t about hating the USA. It’s about getting our independence back. It’s about making the EU a priority. It’s about giving a real shot to all small and not-so-small European businesses in this era of US megacorps and China’s & India’s manufacturing empires.

Don’t just swap one dependency for another. Don’t just jump from US products straight into Asian-made ones. Take the risk. Start your own thing. Promote your biz here or on any other good channel. Don’t just feed the big fish - throw some euros to European entrepreneurs who are trying to build something real.

But hear me loud: DO NOT just switch dependency from the US to Asia. That ain’t the answer. Sooner or later, they’ll sell us out too.

Since we have to discard Ben & Jerry's and Haagen-Dazs, what ice cream brands should we treat ourselves to this Summer?

I see many people moving to Signal, but Signal is still subject to American law and therefor in my book not a good alternative. The Signal software might be secure but it still runs on American Amazon and Google servers. European traffic can easily be blocked which makes us vulnerable to manipulation.

On the plus side, Signal is open source, so it should be relatively easy to make an European fork based on the Signal source code. An European alternative would also bring more employment to our continent. I was wondering if something like that is being worked on, or already exists. Does anyone know?