In today’s world, technology is no longer a mere tool for efficiency or convenience, but a primary geopolitical lever . Access to digital infrastructure, cloud platforms, and communications systems isn’t just an economic advantage: it’s a matter of national sovereignty, security, and strategic control .
Having been accustomed for years to considering technology companies as neutral players, we instead find ourselves faced with scenarios in which the global digital ecosystem is largely determined by private actors based across borders, or by governments themselves, whose technology can become a source of influence or even vulnerability for states.
An example of this dynamic is the recent case of Microsoft and Israeli Intelligence Unit 8200 , where Microsoft decided to block the use of certain Azure services by the Israeli military intelligence unit engaged in mass surveillance programs in the Palestinian territories, after it emerged that cloud technology was supporting the collection and analysis of massive amounts of personal data without adequate ethical and legal safeguards.
This decision – the first of its kind by a major American technology company against a government client – has raised questions about how third parties control strategic technology that can be used for military or intelligence purposes and what values and rules should govern its use.
Another key example concerns US controls on technology and semiconductor exports to China , which represent a clear attempt to prevent a large rival state from accessing critical technologies that could enhance military and surveillance capabilities.
Through export restrictions on advanced chips, manufacturing tools, and design software, the United States aims to maintain a competitive advantage and defend its national security through control of technology supply chains .
These tensions between state regulation, security interests, and private technology are now under everyone’s eyes with Cloudflare’s response to the AGCOM fine .
The Italian communications authority has fined the US company over 14 million euros for failing to block access to content labeled as pirated, as required by Italian anti-piracy law (Law 93/2023).
AGCOM had requested the disabling of DNS resolution and traffic routing to domains flagged through the Piracy Shield system, but Cloudflare failed to adopt the required technical measures, leading to the fine.
The official response from Matthew Prince, Cloudflare CEO , went beyond a mere formal protest: on X, he harshly criticized the regulation, calling it a ” censorship plan ” lacking judicial oversight and transparency, and announced his intention to appeal. But above all, he threatened to interrupt free services, and not only for users in Italy , by withdrawing security support, removing servers, or abandoning investments and even pro-bono cybersecurity services for events like the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
What emerges from these episodes is a profound reflection on the concept of technological security as national security . When essential internet services—public DNS, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity tools—are managed by private companies based abroad, a state lacks full control over fundamental elements of its digital infrastructure .
This creates a dependency that can turn into risk : in the event of legal disputes, inconsistent regulations, or conflicts of interest, access to these services can be limited or even revoked, leaving citizens and institutions vulnerable.
The current reality is that enabling technologies – cloud computing, artificial intelligence, networking systems – are now as strategic tools as energy resources or military capabilities .
Their governance intersects international law, private markets, security interests, and civil rights . Ensuring technological autonomy means more than just developing competitive national industries: it means ensuring that critical functions are not uncontrollably controlled by external actors, preventing corporate decisions from impacting state operations or the security of entire populations.
In a world where technological competition is becoming geopolitical competition , it becomes imperative to rethink national and international technology policies, with rules that balance innovation, rights, security, and sovereignty. Only in this way can we avoid delegating to other levels of power decisions that today profoundly affect the fate of nations.
Follow us on Google News to receive daily updates on cybersecurity. Contact us if you would like to report news, insights or content for publication.
