Life without US tech

Imagine waking up tomorrow and discovering that all American apps and digital services have suddenly disappeared from your phone and computer. No more Google, no more Facebook, no more Instagram, no more Gmail, no more WhatsApp. The idea seems like science fiction, but in reality, it is a real threat: if Washington decided to activate the so-called "kill switch" on digital services, entire economies and daily lives around the world would have to reinvent every habit. The widespread belief is that technology is neutral, global, almost like water or electricity: always available, independent of geopolitics. But this view is wrong. In reality, most of the tools we use every day — email, the cloud, social networks, even payment systems — depend on American control. If the United States decided to turn off the taps, entire countries would be digitally isolated overnight. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt once said that “the division of the digital world into two blocks is now inevitable”: it is no longer just a matter of Chinese censorship, but of a potential total ban by Washington. Take the case of Iran: when the American sanctions were imposed, people also lost access to basic tools such as system updates on Android phones or the ability to download work apps. Or think of Russia, which after the invasion of Ukraine saw payment services, advertising platforms, and even the ability to update professional software shut down in a matter of days. These are not just numbers or news from afar: for millions of people, digital life suddenly became much more complicated, and those who worked online had to reinvent themselves from scratch. And it's not just a matter of companies or governments: behind every blockage, there are small human stories. A Russian programmer said he had to go back to pen and paper to manage his projects, while a young Iranian entrepreneur saw her startup disappear overnight because she could no longer manage clients on American platforms. But there is another point that is often overlooked: dependence on American technology is not only a political vulnerability, but also a limit to the variety of digital ideas and models. If the world were really to live without the US Big Tech companies, there would finally be room for local alternatives — perhaps less efficient at first, but closer to the needs and values of the societies that use them. Of course, the price would be high: months or years of chaos, data loss, and network fragmentation. But this crisis could give rise to innovations that are impossible as long as everything remains centralized in the United States. For years, we thought that digital globalization was irreversible, but today the real question is: how independent are you really if your online life can be shut down with a click from another continent? If this perspective has given you food for thought, you can press I'm In on Lara Notes: it's your way of saying that this vulnerability also affects you, that you don't want to forget it. And if you feel like discussing it with someone — maybe asking "what would you do if all the American apps disappeared tomorrow?" — on Lara Notes you can tag the person with Shared Offline, so they also know that this conversation matters to you. This Note comes from the Financial Times and has saved you several minutes of reading.