UK announces plans to further regulate Apple and Google

AppleInsider

Emulating the European Union, the UK government confirms that it is planning to launch new regulations over Apple and Google.

Apple continues to get hit with new regulations in the UK

As previously reported, the UK government has been considering categorizing Apple and Google as having strategic market status, and then applying new regulations to them. According to a statement on the government's own Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) page, is seeking views on its plan.

"Apple and Google's mobile platforms are both critical to the UK economy - playing an important role in all our lives, from banking and shopping to entertainment and education," said Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA. "But our investigation so far has identified opportunities for more innovation and choice."

"The targeted and proportionate actions we have set out today would enable UK app developers to remain at the forefront of global innovation while ensuring UK consumers receive a world-class experience," she continued. "Time is of the essence: as competition agencies and courts globally take action in these markets, it's essential the UK doesn't fall behind."

This proposed categorization of Apple and Google would bring them under the scope of laws that enable the UK to fine both companies. It follows a CMA investigation into whether Apple has too much overall power in mobile, which was announced in January 2025.

The CMA says that its decision follows that investigation, but that it will not implement it until October 22, 2025. In the meantime, the CMA says it will be consulting "with affected businesses and consumer groups widely."

Reuters reports that Google has responded by calling the CMA's move "disappointing and unwarranted." Google's senior director for competition, Oliver Bethell, said that "it is... crucial that any new regulation is evidence-based, proportionate, and does not become a roadblock to growth in the UK."

Apple has reportedly also responded that the new rules would undermine its ability to continue providing privacy and security to its users.

Strategic Market Status

"Strategic Market Status" is the UK's synonym for what the EU calls gatekeepers. It ostensibly means digital firms over a certain size, although the UK is ignoring several that the EU has classified as this, including Amazon and Microsoft.

The CMA has been using this term since early 2024, when it announced that it was intending to pursue US Big Tech firms. It wasn't actually able to launch the investigations it promised, though, because at that stage it didn't have its full powers.

In fact, the body intended to govern Big Tech was founded in 2021 as the Digital Markets Unit, and was completely without any authority or powers. Nonetheless, it had 60 staff all waiting for Britain's legislative process to complete.

Separately, the UK is now hinting that it will back down on its other major privacy controversy, the demand that Apple add a backdoor to iOS encryption. Apple has already refused, and also turned off certain protections for UK users rather than comply.



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williamm

AppleInsider said:

"while ensuring UK consumers receive a world-class experience," 

This is standrd UK Government language. Everything is going to be "world-class" or "world-beating" but not much ever seems to get there. Search for "UK government world-class" or "UK world-beating test and trace".

Every country usually has it's own specific needs anyway so better to work towards something appropriate than trying to match or be better than everyone else.

ssfe11

Whatever UK lol

robin huber

Seems as if we are heading for regional models and OS versions. The EU is fairly easy to manage—many countries in a cohesive block; China, just because of its area and population. Others may follow. Perhaps a “World Phone” that satisfies the least common denominator of local restrictions for all the outliers? As long as each block allows visitors to bring their personal devices in for the the duration—perhaps issuing a phone visa to make sure unregulated phones leave the country with their owners?

randominternetperson

I appreciate that the UK is straightforward in just designating certain companies as having "strategic market status" rather than quibbling over whether they are monopolies. They want to regulate the major companies that impact their economy. So be it. We can argue about whether any of the mega tech companies are "monopolies" but no one can argue about their importance.

I'm not a big fan of heavy regulation, but if you're going to do it, just say it.

anonymouse

Or will they be "convinced" to back down on this as well? I guess they were inspired by the EU's shakedown strategy as an important revenue source and want to get in on the legalized piracy themselves. Hey, UK and EU, you want to make money from tech? Go develop some tech that the world wants and stop stealing money from those who have. World-class my a...

williamlondon

So Brexit was all about forging their own path, right? I guess there’s much money to be saved replicating what the EU already has done.

danox

They (the UK government ) are too late Arm Holdings has been sold to the Japanese, and John Bull is down the road in Spain on a beach getting drunk with the 262,885 British Expats.

edited July 23

sunman42

WilliamM said:

AppleInsider said:

"while ensuring UK consumers receive a world-class experience," 

This is standrd UK Government language. Everything is going to be "world-class" or "world-beating" but not much ever seems to get there. Search for "UK government world-class" or "UK world-beating test and trace".

Every country usually has it's own specific needs anyway so better to work towards something appropriate than trying to match or be better than everyone else.

——

The size of a pint in the UK is definitely world-class.

kempathonnodge

There has to be governmental regulation, and it has to have some teeth or tech companies wield too much power over an entire population and economy. We now live in a world where companies wield more power than governments.

The comment from Google sums up the problem - “regulation can’t get in the way of growth”… so we should put froth before the wellbeing users?

The sad reality is that these attempts to control apple, who largely demonstrate good stewardship of user rights and ethics distract from the actual destruction of our economy and democracy through ultra powerful media organisations and the rise of basically unregulated AI that blows a hole in our population’s ability to actually earn money. 

How much harm is apple doing to each uk individual by, for example, allowing users to have encrypted data on servers that the police can’t access… 
vs
how much harm will AI do… ?

pwrmac

Is the UK government also going to regulate Microsoft? Guess they soon going to move to Linux desktop or the Chinese Windows replacement 😄

nubus

kempathonnodge said:

There has to be governmental regulation, and it has to have some teeth or tech companies wield too much power over an entire population and economy. We now live in a world where companies wield more power than governments.

The comment from Google sums up the problem - “regulation can’t get in the way of growth”… so we should put froth before the wellbeing users?

Fully agree. Regulation can force companies to stay out of the sewer as clearly they're not capable of doing so on their own.

Case: Regulation on forced labor was too much for Apple and the company lobbied against it. Lobbying against forced labor! Cook is no Schindler - he is just going for profit at any human cost. Not that Alphabet is any better.

A bit of regulation seems to be in order.

hammeroftruth

danox said:

They (the UK government ) are too late Arm Holdings has been sold to the Japanese, and John Bull is down the road in Spain on a beach getting drunk with the 262,885 British Expats.

I laughed at first and then I thought about it. Why didn’t the UK government intervene in the sale of ARM? That was a never ending source of income for government with taxes and Apple is one of their clients. Now SoftBank owns them and there’s not a peep about the importance of preserving an established UK tech icon. 

So this is all bullshit and just an eloquent British way of explaining a future shakedown.  The only good thing about it is it’s pissed off Epic because it’s not specific enough for Swiney. 

danox

hammeroftruth said:

danox said:

They (the UK government ) are too late Arm Holdings has been sold to the Japanese, and John Bull is down the road in Spain on a beach getting drunk with the 262,885 British Expats.

I laughed at first and then I thought about it. Why didn’t the UK government intervene in the sale of ARM? That was a never ending source of income for government with taxes and Apple is one of their clients. Now SoftBank owns them and there’s not a peep about the importance of preserving an established UK tech icon. 

So this is all bullshit and just an eloquent British way of explaining a future shakedown.  The only good thing about it is it’s pissed off Epic because it’s not specific enough for Swiney. 

I still can’t believe Arm Holdings was sold off without a peep from the British government. If there was anyone then that knew anything about Tech they would’ve screamed. I’m sure there was someone but they were probably just ignored. Arm is one of the best things to come out British Tech.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arm_Holdings As an American when you read up on the fate of Arm, you can’t help but think of Xerox, Kodak, Motorola of Schaumburg, Illinois or the current sinking ship of IBM which had it all under one roof OS, manufacturing, hardware and most of it has been sold off they currently are but a shell of what they were. Which brings us around to Intel, who is currently listing at sea…

Imagine if Motorola, IBM, or Intel had an open mind towards the further development of mobile computing 1999-2007 but smaller faster better just wasn’t on the radar, most of the advancements appear to be iteration over time with lots of little breakthroughs kinda sounds like Apples approach lots of little pieces which later add up to big things.

One of the better things to come out of this AI push is that Apple appears to have been pushed into doing something in house about their lack of participation in the server area of modern computing. 

Even Apple has had their Intel moments when they let those three chip designers get away who then eventually ended up at Qualcomm thru a buyout. Qualcomm got a very much needed lifeline for they were also listing at sea at the time with their mobile chip/cpu designs.

edited July 24

davidlewis54

The answer here is in the article: Apple won’t give the UK a back door into its software so the government is exerting pressure by other means. This is pretty odd as there is so much hacking which tends not to happen to Apple products.  Of course the government won’t target Amazon and Microsoft because the government uses their services in huge quantities.

jamescude

“Regulate” = Shakedown.