Nicolas Guillou has been sanctioned by the USA as a judge of the International Criminal Court. He notices the effects primarily in the digital realm.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/55550318

The extent of dependence on the USA in the digital sector is currently being experienced by a French judge. Nicolas Guillou, one of six judges and three prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC), was sanctioned by the USA in August. He described his current situation as a digital time travel back to the 1990s, before the internet age, in a recent interview.

The reason for the US sanctions are the arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. They were indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the context of the destruction of the Gaza Strip. The USA condemned this decision by the court, whereupon the US Treasury Department sanctioned six judges and three prosecutors.

Digitally excluded from almost everything In Guillou’s daily life, this means that he is excluded from digital life and much of what is considered standard today, he told the French newspaper Le Monde. All his accounts with US companies such as Amazon, Airbnb, or PayPal were immediately closed by the providers. Online bookings, such as through Expedia, are immediately canceled, even if they concern hotels in France. Participation in e-commerce is also practically no longer possible for him, as US companies always play a role in one way or another, and they are strictly forbidden to enter into any trade relationship with sanctioned individuals.

  • Auli@lemmy.caEnglish
    1·
    3 hours ago

    What does Isreal have on America that the US well sanction an individual for an arrest warrant on a none US citizen.
    Fuck the US the world should have not centralized on one country but it’s to late as any competing company well just be bought by the American ones. Contries shoudl have been blocking the purchases.

    Also it doesn’t matter what a country does for laws as the American companies have to follow American laws no matter what.

    We are so fucked.

    • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      56 minutes ago

      What does Isreal have on America that the US well sanction an individual for an arrest warrant on a none US citizen.

      The American evangelicals who pull a lot of the puppet strings within the GOP are convinced that Isreal is critically important to (their interpretation of) the biblical plan for Jesus to come back.

      In their eyes, anything that they believe might interfere with that needs to be stopped.

      They view this as a religious duty.

  • bryndos@fedia.io
    3·
    7 hours ago

    I can’t access this article so I don’t know if he explains whether not having these services makes his lifestyle better or worse.

    Personally I enjoy the challenge of trying my best not to use those services. Amazon, Airbnb, or PayPal, expedia(??? idk what that is - I think I’ve seen it advertised).

    I just try to use bricks and mortar, or contact people directly, or use their own website (though i guess the payment processing thing may limit that).

    Sometimes having a constraint like that forces you to adapt and stop your inner lazy-slob from becoming one of your enemies.

    I remember when my flat used to get burgled regularly, we’d lose all the games consoles and laptops and stuff, and have to go out to find entertainment of an evening. It was pretty cool.

    But there may be more too it than what the synopsis makes out.

    Digitally excluded from almost everything Surely he still has access to shitposts and memes and wikipedia. That is almost everything. /j

  • yardratianSoma@lemmy.caEnglish
    5·
    20 hours ago

    Insane how US-centric the internet is, even in Europe, separation by 4500km of ocean isn’t enough loosen the grasp of America, sad.

    Paypal, Expedia, Amazon . . . . . it’s not just that we’ve given our digital lives over to American companies, but that we’ve given them away at all. It’s too late, when our likes and dislikes are stored in some datacenter to be sold to the highest bidder . . . . Snowden’s hopes are just dust in the wind at this point . . .

  • Washedupcynic@lemmy.caEnglish
    5·
    1 day ago

    I downvoted because the actual website had an INSANE amount of trackers to block. I would upvote a better website or a cache page. I don’t want to read a copy pasted excerpt, I want to read the whole article.