“The I.C.C. showed this can happen,” said Bart Groothuis, a former head of cybersecurity for the Dutch Ministry of Defense who is now a member of the European Parliament. “It’s not just fantasy.”
Mr. Groothuis once supported U.S. tech firms but has done a “180-degree flip-flop,” he said. “We have to take steps as Europe to do more for our sovereignty.”
Some at the I.C.C. are now using Proton, a Swiss company that provides encrypted email services, three people with knowledge of the communications said.
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.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, said the concerns raised by the I.C.C. episode were a “symptom” of a larger erosion of trust between the United States and Europe. “The I.C.C. issue added fuel to a fire that was already burning,” he said.