I genuinely liked the idea behind Mastodon. A European-born, decentralised alternative to American Big Tech. What's not to like?

Then my account was suspended for posting AI-generated news content.

I understand concerns about spam, misinformation and low-quality content. But surely we should judge content by its quality and accuracy, not simply whether AI was involved?

This growing hostility towards AI reminds me of people in the 1990s who proudly declared they would never own a mobile phone. Or those who insisted they would never use their credit cards online. These voices were the biggest in Europe so mobility and ecommerce moved to the USA, where people are allowed to choose themselves.

They weren't stopping progress. They were simply refusing to participate in it. Making themselves irrelevant in the discussion.

AI isn't going away. It's becoming part of everyday life, whether people like it or not.

And this is what frustrates me about Europe. We have the talent, the technology and the ambition, yet too often our instinct seems to be resisting change rather than embracing it.

Of course, one Mastodon server doesn't represent all of Europe. But the attitude feels painfully familiar.

You don't protect the future by refusing to participate in it.

https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2026/en/index.html

I started looking into this after the duty appeared on a recent small order. My own checkout obviously doesn’t tell us much about the wider effect, but it made me curious about what has happened since July.
The temporary duty has applied since 1 July. According to the European Commission’s guidance, it is €3 per declaration goods item in consignments worth up to €150, and it is due to remain in place until 1 July 2028.
I assumed this duty would put people off buying small parcels. But among the people I know, the duty doesn’t seem to have stopped the cross-border orders. We still buy from outside the EU when the thing we want simply isn’t available locally, or when the local price is hard to justify. Amazon isn’t always much of an alternative either. Quite often it’s just as expensive. I suppose the policy is meant to discourage people from buying low-quality items, but for essential items we can't find locally, importing from abroad is still our only option.
What changes have you noticed in how people around you shop since the €3 duty came in?

Romania is far cheaper than China (hence Dacia is cheap) and Poland, Czechia are basically the same as China

This is also why Chinese EV companies are building factories in Southern and Eastern Europe, and European carmakers can do the same. Not for all cars, but at least for the cheapest ones so people can afford them.

Building resilience in the digital age: the strategic value of a digital euro for Cyprus and Europe

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BMW plans billions in savings with AI-based business model The Munich-based carmaker wants to be an “AI-orchestrated company” from 2028. What this means is evident in the shopping. In the future, autonomous agents will work there.

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Government proposes €141bn cut to EU budget

EU farm subsidies fall to lowest share of farm incomes in quarter of a century

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Eni economist: “Minimal impact from the US-Russia agreement on diesel, prices will not go down”

Source: https://www.repubblica.it/economia/2026/10/12/news/diesel_eni_accordo_usa_russia_prezzi_trump_putin-425641911/?rss