"In a bold turn of phrase and deed, Paris has quietly told Silicon Valley "au revoir." On January 26, 2026, France's Ministry of Finance announced that by 2027, all public servants will switch from U.S. video apps like Microsoft Teams and Zoom to a homegrown platform called Visio. No more license renewals for Teams, Zoom, Webex, or Meet, just one unified, French-built solution."
""Digital sovereignty" has become the EU's new watchword, a declaration of independence from foreign tech hegemons. Over the past few years, it has surged from a niche policy to a headline priority, as EU leaders from Ursula von der Leyen to Emmanuel Macron have warned that Europe must control its own networks and data. The phrase sounds grand, but what changed now is urgency."
"In practice, "jurisdiction follows ownership," as one analyst noted: even data sitting on a Frankfurt server can be swept up by U.S. warrants if the service provider is American. Edward Snowden's revelations and murky court orders have long haunted Europe with the idea that a virtual meeting might be spied on from overseas. Now, with geopolitics in flux, U.S. political turns and global crises, that theoretical risk seems all too real."
France will replace U.S. video apps in public administration with a domestic platform, Visio, by 2027, eliminating renewals for Teams, Zoom, Webex and Meet. The move embodies a practical assertion of digital sovereignty, aimed at keeping sensitive communications within national control. European policymakers have pushed cloud-certification rules and data laws to retain information in Europe. U.S. legal frameworks such as the CLOUD Act raise risks that foreign-held data may be accessed through American providers. Intelligence disclosures and opaque court orders have increased concern that online meetings and data could be surveilled from abroad, prompting urgent policy shifts.
Read at TNW | Opinion
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