Europeans using Apple, Google and other major tech platforms woke to a new reality Thursday as a landmark law imposed tough new competition rules on the companies — changing European Union citizens’ experience with phones, apps, browsers and more.
The new EU regulations force sweeping changes on some of the world’s most widely used tech products, including Apple’s app store, Google search and messaging platforms, including Meta’s WhatsApp. And they mark a turning point in a global effort by regulators to bring tech giants to heel after years of allegations that the companies harmed competition and left consumers worse off.
Why the UK? It’s a single market against the whole of the EU, the US and China. It’s size is not really relevant.
Maybe it’s just my UK-centricity, but it seems to me that the UK does have quite a large effect on various markets. Of course, the effect was strongest when it was still part of the EU, but it still has 70m people, a non insignificant number, as well as historical ties.