↓ Skip to main content
SovereignSky
When Your Values Become a Liability: Digital Sovereignty and Moral Independence
  1. Blog/

When Your Values Become a Liability: Digital Sovereignty and Moral Independence

Table of Contents

In February 2025, the United States sanctioned the International Criminal Court - the world’s war crimes tribunal. Judges. Prosecutors. Staff. An institution created to hold perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity accountable.

The message was clear: if you pursue justice in ways that conflict with American interests, you will be punished.

But sanctions aren’t just about freezing bank accounts. In a world where organizations run on Microsoft 365, store data in AWS, and communicate through American platforms, sanctions become a digital kill switch.

What happens when your morals are sanctioned?

The ICC: A Warning for Every International Organization
#

The sanctions against the ICC didn’t just target individuals - they targeted the court’s ability to function:

  • Nine ICC personnel sanctioned, including six judges and the chief prosecutor
  • Financial institutions globally began refusing transactions with the ICC
  • US threatened to pressure allies to withdraw cooperation
  • Social media accounts restricted
  • The court’s ability to investigate war crimes compromised

France condemned the sanctions as a “flagrant attack on the independence of an impartial judicial institution.” But condemnation doesn’t restore banking access.

The ICC discovered a hard truth: digital dependency is political vulnerability.

The Pattern: Who Else Has Been Targeted?
#

The ICC isn’t alone. The Trump administration has systematically targeted organizations that challenge American or allied interests:

Palestinian human rights organizations - sanctioned in September 2025 under the same executive order as the ICC:

  • Al-Haq (founded 1979, pioneering human rights documentation)
  • Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (two decades documenting laws of war violations)
  • Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (providing legal aid to victims)

Their crime? Providing evidence to the International Criminal Court.

UN officials:

  • Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory - sanctioned in July 2025 for writing reports critical of Israeli actions

UNRWA (UN agency for Palestinian refugees):

The entire humanitarian aid sector:

The pattern is clear: organizations that stand for justice, human rights, or humanitarian principles that conflict with US policy are being systematically defunded, sanctioned, or both.

Who’s Next?
#

If you work for an organization that:

  • Advocates for human rights
  • Documents war crimes or human rights violations
  • Provides humanitarian aid in contested regions
  • Challenges the policies of the US or its allies
  • Supports refugees or displaced populations
  • Works on climate justice
  • Investigates corporate wrongdoing by American companies

You should be asking: what happens to our digital infrastructure if we’re targeted?

Consider:

  • Your Microsoft 365 tenant - controlled by a US company
  • Your AWS or Azure hosting - subject to US law
  • Your Slack or Teams communications - stored on US servers
  • Your payment processing - flowing through US-dominated systems
  • Your email - probably Gmail or Outlook

A single executive order could turn off your organization’s ability to operate.

The Norwegian Red Cross Question
#

Imagine a scenario: A Norwegian humanitarian organization provides aid in a region where US policy conflicts with humanitarian principles. Perhaps they treat wounded civilians on “the wrong side.” Perhaps they document war crimes by US allies. Perhaps they simply refuse to discriminate based on American political preferences.

Could they be sanctioned? After the ICC, the answer is clearly yes.

And if they run on Microsoft 365 and Azure - as many Norwegian organizations do - what then?

This isn’t hypothetical fear-mongering. The ICC is a respected international institution with broad global support. If they can be sanctioned, any organization can be.

We Can’t Have Our Morals Sanctioned
#

Norwegian organizations - whether humanitarian, human rights, environmental, or civil society - need to ask themselves a fundamental question:

Should our ability to act on our values depend on American approval?

If the answer is no, then digital sovereignty isn’t a technical preference. It’s a moral imperative.

Organizations doing difficult, principled work need infrastructure that can’t be switched off from Washington:

  • Email and collaboration on European platforms
  • Data stored under European jurisdiction
  • Communication tools outside US control
  • Payment systems that don’t flow through US-dominated networks

This isn’t about being anti-American. Good, trusted friends tell each other what they mean, even when it’s uncomfortable. But a person who dictates what you can think and do, who punishes you for acting on your conscience. Can that person really be your friend?

It’s about maintaining the ability to act according to your own conscience, your own values, and your own nation’s laws - regardless of who sits in the White House.

What Organizations Should Do Now
#

1. Assess Your Exposure
#

Map your digital infrastructure:

  • Where is your data stored?
  • Which services depend on US companies?
  • What would happen if your Microsoft tenant was suspended?
  • Could you continue operating if US services were cut off?

2. Identify Critical Systems
#

Not everything needs to move. Focus on:

  • Communications (email, messaging)
  • Document storage and collaboration
  • Donor and financial systems
  • Case management and operational data

3. Explore European Alternatives
#

Sovereign options exist:

  • Email: Proton Mail (Switzerland), Tutanota (Germany)
  • Collaboration: Nextcloud (Germany), CryptPad (France)
  • Cloud: Hetzner (Germany), Scaleway (France), Green Mountain (Norway)
  • Video: Jitsi (open source), Element/Matrix (decentralized)

4. Plan for Independence
#

Create a transition plan:

  • What would you migrate first in an emergency?
  • Who has the technical skills to execute a rapid move?
  • Have you tested your backup and recovery capabilities?

5. Advocate for Sector-Wide Change
#

Individual organizations can’t solve this alone. Push for:

  • Sector-wide digital sovereignty standards
  • Shared infrastructure for humanitarian organizations
  • Government support for sovereign alternatives
  • Recognition that digital independence is operational security

The Moral Case for Digital Sovereignty
#

The ICC sanctions aren’t primarily a technology story. They’re a story about power - about who gets to decide what justice means, which lives matter, and which organizations deserve to exist.

But technology is the mechanism through which that power is exercised.

Every organization that runs on American infrastructure has implicitly accepted that their ability to operate depends on American goodwill. For many organizations, that’s an acceptable trade-off - American cloud services are excellent, affordable, and convenient.

But for organizations whose mission might someday conflict with American interests - organizations fighting for human rights, documenting inconvenient truths, providing aid to unpopular populations, or simply following international law when America chooses not to - that dependency is existential risk.

We cannot let our ability to do what’s right depend on someone else’s permission.

Digital sovereignty isn’t about nationalism or technology preferences. It’s about maintaining the independence to act according to your values, even when powerful actors disagree.

The ICC thought they were protected by international law and global legitimacy. They weren’t.

Don’t make the same assumption about your cloud provider.

Sources
#

ICC Sanctions:

Palestinian Human Rights Organizations:

UN Special Rapporteur:

UNRWA:

Humanitarian Aid Cuts: