European Courts and Drone Labs Struggle for Tech Autonomy
June 29, 2026
European regulators and the British government are attempting to legislate 'tech sovereignty' and news trustworthiness into existence, even as internal court rulings and Palantir tax breaks entrench the very platform dependencies they seek to escape. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s drone-led energy strikes are forcing a rapid militarization of industrial culture that traditional state bureaucracies and criminal networks are struggling to replicate or contain.
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BRIEF
The EU Wants To Grow Homegrown Tech. Its Courts Keep Making That Impossible.
Just a couple weeks ago, the European Commission put out its plan for “European tech sovereignty.” It’s not surprising that Europeans are looking at their internet platform options and seeing a choice between US companies and Chinese companies as something that isn’t that appealing. Of course, Europ…
- media and technology
- AI governance
- structural power
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BRIEF
Europe Is Fed Up and Wants Its Own AI
It's a stretch to think that the continent can build a top-tier model, but it has an advantage: Donald Trump.
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ANALYSIS
Europol: EU Crime Networks Regenerate Fast
Europol says law enforcement has pushed many of the European Union’s most threatening criminal networks off its current watchlist, but organized crime continues to regenerate, with hundreds of new networks identified since 2024.
- structural power
- geopolitics
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ANALYSIS
Journalists and Activists Rebel as Czech Government Targets Public Media Funding
A nationwide broadcast strike and mass protests have erupted in Prague over a controversial government funding overhaul that journalists warn is a systematic attempt to silence critics and control the press.
- structural power
- geopolitics
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BRIEF
The British government wants to force more trustworthy news into your doomscrolling
The British government is asking social media companies to put more news — real news, produced by public service broadcasters like the BBC — high up in people’s feeds. And if companies refuse, it’ll pass laws to require it. That’s the main takeaway from a new report issued Tuesday on a host of issue…
- media and technology
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BRIEF
Exclusive: Palantir’s massive tax break!
openDemocracy Weekly Newsletter 27 June 2026
- structural power
- geopolitics
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BRIEF
Other nations thirst for Ukraine’s drone success — but they need a culture shift first
Ukrainian drone strikes are devastating Russian communities. The city of Sevastopol, the largest in Russian-occupied Crimea, is the latest community to be hit, losing power as Ukrainian drones strike energy facilities in the region. Given the immense symbolic value attached to Crimea by both Russian…
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