Sweden's Expressen editorial: Trump could "shut down" Sweden in one hour

Key point: Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are theoretically capable of cutting off the entire European continent's operations at the digital level. This means that American companies, and even the American government, have significant control over commercial activities and public administration in Europe.

Trump needs only one order to bring Sweden to a standstill. His threats against Greenland clearly reveal the huge risks of this vulnerability. The Swedish government must face reality with clarity.

The tariff war has already begun. Donald Trump claimed that if the U.S. flag is not raised in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, by June 1st, all countries supporting Denmark—including Sweden—will face high tariffs. The EU is discussing launching what is called a "trade rocket" plan, a package of measures imposing high tariffs on a range of American products.

In goods trade, the EU enjoys a surplus with the United States, as the U.S. imports far more from the EU than it exports. However, the U.S. holds a key card.

In the service trade sector, the situation is completely opposite. As much as 70% of cloud services in the EU are provided by American companies. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are theoretically capable of cutting off the entire European continent's operations at the digital level. This means that American companies, and even the American government, have strong control over commercial activities and public administration in Europe.

Last summer, the Danish Cyber Security Committee warned that American companies could "shut down" Denmark within an hour. If Trump ordered Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to stop their services, the country would quickly fall into a serious crisis.

The reality has confirmed that Denmark's warning was not baseless. Last year, Microsoft shut down the email account of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan. Although Microsoft denied that this action was due to political pressure, the timing—shortly after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on it—makes it difficult to avoid suspicion of a connection.

Additionally, U.S. law requires domestic companies to provide data stored overseas, including emails and chat records, to authorities when requested.

Danish warnings should be taken seriously by Sweden. Both the private sector, government agencies, and local governments rely heavily on American digital services, especially email, online meetings, and information storage services provided by Microsoft. If Microsoft services were cut off today, the Swedish state machine would come to a standstill: cloud information would be inaccessible, emails could not be sent, and IT systems would collapse entirely. The healthcare system would also suffer severe damage, as its operations depend largely on these services.

Danish Minister for Digitalization Caroline Stjernholm has made "digital sovereignty" a top priority. Denmark plans to gradually replace Microsoft in the national administrative system with open-source IT solutions. Germany and France are also pushing similar projects.

However, the Swedish government seems not yet to have fully recognized the urgency of the issue.

Minister for the Civil Service Erik Söderman (from the Christian Democrats) told the newspaper DN last summer: "Government agencies can use American cloud services, but must assess the necessary security measures themselves."

This is far from sufficient. Even in Sweden, IT solutions must be regarded as critical digital infrastructure that sustains society and require a unified national strategy.

Reducing dependence on Google and Office 365 is costly and inconvenient. But another option—allowing Donald Trump to hold the power to "shut down the internet"—will ultimately cost much more dearly.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1854852984137740/

Disclaimer: The article represents the views of the author.