Big tech companies like Google and Facebook parent Meta would have to comply with tough British rules under a new digital watchdog aimed at giving consumers more choice online — or face the threat of big fines.
The United Kingdom government on Friday outlined the powers it’s planning for its Digital Markets Unit, a regulator set up last year to take on the dominance of tech giants. It didn’t specify when the rules would take effect, saying only that legislation would come “in due course.”
Authorities in Britain and across Europe have been leading the global push to clamp down on tech companies amid rising concern about their outsized influence and harmful material proliferating on their platforms.
The new U.K. watchdog would enforce rules that make it easier for people to switch between iPhones and Android devices or between social media accounts without losing their data and messages.
