[disruptiveink]

Google ultimately did that for China. The outcome in that case is that the domestic market filled in the gaps, while complying to all relevant authoritarian legislation. I do not believe that the same would happen for every market where these stunts are being pulled off, at least not to the same level of quality.

Why are European countries trying to pull one off from the China playbook, while simultaneously being shocked that companies react to authoritarian moves in the exact same way as they have done in the past, is beyond me. Is the hubris so large that they honestly can't conceive their "requirements" as being "literally the same as China?"

[hx8]

Having to build local alternatives probably had a positive impact on China's software industry. We're at a point today that major Chinese software/tech companies are routinely talked about on nightly news.

[shalmanese]

India banning TikTok did not have the same effect on the Indian software market [1]. The local competitors that cropped up were mostly disappointing and didn't outcompete YT/Instagram.

Similarly, the benefits of Sweden banning Signal would most likely accrue to WhatsApp, not any indigenous software company.

[1] https://restofworld.org/2022/tiktok-sized-hole-in-india/

[kdmtctl]

China has a user base that could make any app insanely popular. In the single country. Not to mention that EU has less people, EU is also very diverse culturally and the gap keeps widen.

[dartos]

Would you want to be reliant on American companies right now?

[SirHumphrey]

Not wanting to be reliant on american companies because of the data and technological sovereignty is admirable.

Not wanting to be reliant on American companies because they don’t allow you to spy on your own citizens as much as you want through…