>> Casper Klynge, a former Danish and European Union diplomat who worked for Microsoft, said the episode was in many ways the “smoking gun that many Europeans had been looking for.”
Damn right. Strong evidence that Europe should look after their own, and not rely on the good old US of A. Written by an Australian who thinks we should do the same down here.
decide1000 · 1h ago
This is insane. They aimed his corporate account. Europeans move away from the US even faster now. This guy is literally breaking decades old relationships.
NewJazz · 1h ago
They didn't even resist/appeal the order? It is an EO, not a law. Goes to show just how subservient and feckless Microsoft is. Nominative determinism much?
a_bonobo · 58m ago
You have a bunch of tech execs getting sworn in as lieutenant colonels for the Army Reserve, SF aligns itself with the White House just like Germany's big industry aligned itself with the NSDAP. It doesn't particularly matter whether an order is legal or not, it only matters if the ones in power want it.
boredatoms · 42m ago
What would motivate them to join the army?
BLKNSLVR · 37m ago
The power that comes with military contract-type money, connections, and influence.
That's the kind of situation that gives CEOs lifelong reputations (that they think it's in a good way).
a_bonobo · 14m ago
The NSDAP-style alignments went both ways: if the industry bigwig joined the party, he got access to lucrative contracts and insider information. The NSDAP also helped strike down strikes for the bigwigs, and later, supplied slaves from concentration camps for cheap. In turn, the party got to deeply control the bigwig: don't toe the party line and you're either out, or you're in danger. Join the party and publicly demonstrate your allegiance to the leadership.
Not quite as clear cut. The EO triggers a national emergency under IEEPA, which is the basis of sanctions — so there is a well established legal underpinning. Unclear whether Microsoft has standing to challenge the designation of the ICC, and the courts give a lot of deference to the President on foreign affairs/national security. Microsoft is more “stuck” than “feckless” I think.
perihelions · 11m ago
- "It is an EO, not a law."
Still, backed by pretty solid statutory authority[0] (one created by Democrats and signed into law by Carter, in point of fact). Congress wanted the President to have this power.
I'll get scorched for this, but: I never once read a word of complaint about separation-of-powers, when Biden was sanctioning objects left and right for his own, self-declared, national-security emergencies. I don't recall reading once, i.e. at the time of the sweeping China or GPU sanctions, a peep of protest along the lines of, "This should *not* be something a President should be able to do unilaterally! That's way too much power in the hands of one person! Congress should have to debate it". We didn't invent an imperial presidency in 2025; it's the agglomeration of decades of civic apathy.
You not reading that commentary and it not taking place are two very different things! Plenty of folks expressed constitutionality concerns for several types of actions that the Biden admin took. However, you may find that the enacted sanctions hold up significantly better under meaningful scrutiny than Trump cutting off email for one person investigating the war crimes and evidence of genocide in Gaza at the hands of our proxy state in the ME.
phendrenad2 · 20m ago
People really need to resist the urge to anthropomorphize corporations. Corporate behavior is well-established science at this point. They almost always do what is in their own financial interests. "Feckless" means "lacking initiative or strength of character". Corporations have one character: Making money. Fighting the government over a few user accounts has no short-term or long-term monetary value. It doesn't even win you a PR victory because 50% of people support this.
Did everyone miss the last line of the article and/or is everyone unaware of the fact this particular prosecutor has been suspended and is being investigated by the police for rape? Kind of pertinent to the story...
His official work email was suspended because he's suspended from the organization...
hk1337 · 1m ago
I missed it because it was at the very end so thanks for pointing it out.
Sounds like Trump’s EO had nothing to do with with suspending the account?
> Microsoft said the decision to suspend Mr. Khan’s email had been made in consultation with the I.C.C. The company said it had since enacted policy changes that had been in the works before the episode to protect customers in similar geopolitical situations in the future. When the Trump administration sanctioned four additional I.C.C. judges this month, their email accounts were not suspended, the company said.
boston_clone · 1m ago
Impertinent and disingenuous if you pay attention to the timeline; the EO was issued in February. The ICC has changed internal policies, and other members of the body sanctioned post-hoc have not had their email accounts suspended. The sexual misconduct allegations surfaced in May.
iammjm · 18m ago
Disgusting. Yet another reason for Europe to ditch US-tech. Its also interesting to see how the US managed within a couple of month to destroy its trust, influence and soft-power it has built over many decades. Kinda like Musk did, but on a nation-wide scale. the orange emperor truly has a talent for wrecking anything he touches. maga all the way baby
chillingeffect · 2h ago
Great way to build up European comms business and take revenue from American companies.
litigator · 2h ago
Europe already own the US comms network. Nokia and Erricsson are the only real players there.
Damn right. Strong evidence that Europe should look after their own, and not rely on the good old US of A. Written by an Australian who thinks we should do the same down here.
That's the kind of situation that gives CEOs lifelong reputations (that they think it's in a good way).
See the secret industry meeting from 1933 as the prime example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Meeting_of_20_February_...
Still, backed by pretty solid statutory authority[0] (one created by Democrats and signed into law by Carter, in point of fact). Congress wanted the President to have this power.
I'll get scorched for this, but: I never once read a word of complaint about separation-of-powers, when Biden was sanctioning objects left and right for his own, self-declared, national-security emergencies. I don't recall reading once, i.e. at the time of the sweeping China or GPU sanctions, a peep of protest along the lines of, "This should *not* be something a President should be able to do unilaterally! That's way too much power in the hands of one person! Congress should have to debate it". We didn't invent an imperial presidency in 2025; it's the agglomeration of decades of civic apathy.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Emergency_Econom... ("International Emergency Economic Powers Act"; C-f "14203" for the current topic)
His official work email was suspended because he's suspended from the organization...
Sounds like Trump’s EO had nothing to do with with suspending the account?
> Microsoft said the decision to suspend Mr. Khan’s email had been made in consultation with the I.C.C. The company said it had since enacted policy changes that had been in the works before the episode to protect customers in similar geopolitical situations in the future. When the Trump administration sanctioned four additional I.C.C. judges this month, their email accounts were not suspended, the company said.