- ICC replaces Microsoft Office software with the German company openDesk
- This comes amid fears of US retaliation from the Trump administration
- The EU and ICC fear that American technology may be hit by the ‘kill switch’ via American foreign policy
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is looking to replace its internal working environments to move away from US-made software for fear of retaliation from the US administration.
The Microsoft software currently used at the Hague-based ICC is likely to be replaced with Open Desk, a German collaboration software alternative which is open source, meaning developers have chosen to release the source code – which opens it up to scrutiny and often means bugs and vulnerabilities are caught quickly by the community.
The move protects the ICC from further targeted sanctions by the US government for ‘violations against the US and Israel’ – where judges and prosecutors before the court have been threatened with travel bans and asset freezes.
Breaker switch
In early 2025, ICC Chief Prosecutor Kamrin Khan, after being hit by sanctions from the Trump administration, was disconnected from his email service.
This action is believed to be from Microsoft supporting US sanctions – although the company denied this, with a spokesperson stating; “At no time did Microsoft cease or suspend its services to the ICC.”
This sparked fears that US tech companies could flip a ‘kill switch’ and cut digital services at the behest of Trump – outlining the need to become less dependent on US technology, with firms such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon dominating Europe’s digital services and cloud markets.
Open Desk was created for public administrations by the German Center for Digital Sovereignty in Public Administration (Zendis) – a publicly owned company created with the aim of building sovereign digital infrastructure for EU states.
Efforts have been made to reduce the EU’s dependence on the US, not only for digital services but also for hyperscalers – as Trump’s increasingly hostile and unpredictable foreign policy leaves allies exposed and looking to develop their own infrastructure.
Via Handelsblatt (translated online)
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