Can US monopoly laws rein in Silicon Valley?
The European Union fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of dollars last week.
My colleague Jennifer Rankin reports:
The European Commission has fined Apple €500m (£429m) and Meta €200m for breaking rules on fair competition and user choice, in the first penalties issued under one of the EU's landmark internet laws.
The fines under the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is intended to ensure fair business practices by tech companies, are likely to provide another flashpoint with Donald Trump's administration, which has fiercely attacked Europe's internet regulation.
The Trump administration was indeed quick to rebuke the fines: a national security council spokesperson told Politico that the EU's moves were a 'novel form of economic extortion' that 'will not be tolerated by the United States'.
Interesting, too, is that while the penalties are no small amount of money, their impact likely pales in comparison to the scrutiny the tech companies are facing in the US. Though the EU boasts more robust consumer protections when it comes to tech, the cases against these companies on their home turf, where they have enjoyed great latitude in the past, threaten their core corporate structure, which has been key to integrating their products with one another and creating the walled gardens that have earned them hundreds of billions of dollars.
Before Donald Trump ascended to the US presidency a second time, I would have predicted that little regulation of tech giants would emerge from his administration and that if there were any authority that would provide a check on Silicon Valley's humongous and still growing influence, it would be Europe. That is not the regulatory landscape we find ourselves in, though. The US Department of Justice is engaged in serious pursuit of nearly every major American tech company for alleged monopolistic conduct. The bureau has filed suits against Apple, Amazon, Meta and Google within the past two years. Meta's trial began two weeks ago and threatens to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
Most severe – Google faces the consequences of losing two major antitrust cases in quick succession. The US has petitioned a judge to force the nearly $2tn company to divest one of its crown jewels, Chrome, the most popular web browser in the world.
The US wields the sharper sword here since the tech giants are headquartered there. Unlike the EU's fines, the antitrust cases in the US threaten the corporate organization of the tech giants, which, if altered, would redirect the profits and change consumers' experiences with their products. These massively profitable businesses have rolled over far larger fines like speed bumps – recall when the US Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5bn for privacy violations, which Mark Zuckerberg mentioned during a few subsequent earnings calls and then never again. Facebook continued operating largely as it did before. The EU fined Google fined €4.3bn in 2018 over Android's preference for Google search. Apple was fined €1.8 just last year over music streaming payments.
A Chrome-less Google, on the other hand, would make for a less personalized experience of using the internet, I think, perhaps even for my fellow Safari users. YouTube and Google search could draw on less of your history. No other company serves ads in so many corners of the web, so the ads that follow you around would become quite different.
Read more here.
Goodbye, Skype. I'll never forget you
How space exploration can improve life on Earth
Ofcom announces new rules for tech firms to keep children safe online
What are the Ofcom measures to protect children online – and will they work?
Ofcom accused of prioritising interests of tech firms over child safety online
Elon Musk's electric vehicle company reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2025 last week. The numbers were among the worst in its history. Via my colleague Johana Bhuiyan, here are the figures:
Sign up to TechScape
A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives
after newsletter promotion
Tesla saw a 9% drop in revenue year over year in the first quarter of 2025. The company brought in $19.3bn in revenue, well below Wall Street expectations of $21.45bn. The company reported an earnings per share of 27 cents, also well under investor expectations of 43 cents in earnings per share.
Tesla profits also slid 71% to $409m compared with $1.39bn in net income the previous year.
The company suffered a 13% drop in vehicle deliveries, making it the company's worst quarter since 2022. Tesla closed the quarter with 336,681 vehicles delivered.
The majority of Musk's enormous net worth – he remains the world's richest person despite a nearly $100bn decline in his fortune since the year began – consists of his partial ownership of Tesla. His shares in the company are worth quite a lot less than they were when Trump was inaugurated.
During a call with disappointed Wall Street investors after Thursday's earnings figures, Musk said his work to get the US government's 'financial house in order is mostly done'. 'Starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to Doge will drop significantly,' he added. He is scheduled to leave Doge on 30 May, amid a strict 130-day cap on his service as a special government employee.
The statement reminds me of the premature 'Mission Accomplished' banner flown by former US president George W Bush soon after the disastrous Iraq war began: a declaration of victory that papers over a tumultuous reality very much still in flux. The success of Musk's cost-cutting has yet to be determined. Four days before the earnings call, a federal judge in the US blocked his team's efforts to shutter a top consumer financial protection agency. We do not yet know how much of his scything of the US federal government will remain in place.
Elon Musk to pull back in Doge role starting May amid 71% dip in Tesla profits
Elon Musk's xAI accused of pollution over Memphis supercomputer
AI images of child sexual abuse getting 'significantly more realistic', says watchdog
Meta faces Ghana lawsuits over impact of extreme content on moderators
Trump's meme coin soars after he asks top 220 holders to dinner
Apple 'aims to source all US iPhones from India', reducing reliance on China
US food delivery app DoorDash offers to buy UK rival Deliveroo for $3.6bn
What to do if your phone is lost or stolen: practical steps to restore peace of mind
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
43 minutes ago
- The Independent
National Guard troops arrive in LA on Trump's orders to stop immigration protests
National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles on President Donald Trump's orders to address clashes between federal immigration authorities and protesters. The deployment includes members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, stationed at the federal complex in downtown Los Angeles. Trump stated he is deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to quell protests he described as "a form of rebellion." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the National Guard would "keep peace and allow people to be able to protest but also to keep law and order,' while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to deploy active-duty Marines if violence escalates. Gov. Gavin Newsome criticised Trump's decision as "purposefully inflammatory" and Hegseth's threat to deploy Marines as 'deranged behavior,' noting the activation occurred without the governor's request, a rare occurrence.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
National Guard deployed in Los Angeles amid protests against immigration raids
LOS ANGELES, June 8 (Reuters) - California National Guard arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday, deployed by President Donald Trump after two days of protests by hundreds of demonstrators against immigration raids carried out as part of Trump's hardline policy. About a dozen National Guard members were seen in video footage on Sunday morning lining up at a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, where detainees from immigration raids on Friday were taken, sparking protests that continued on Saturday. The complex is near Los Angeles City Hall, where another protest against the immigration raids is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. U.S. Northern Command confirmed National Guard troops had started deploying and that some were already on the ground. "These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday. California Governor Gavin Newsom has accused Trump of deploying the National Guard because he wants "a spectacle." Footage showed at least a half dozen military-style vehicles and riot shields on Sunday at the federal building where the Department of Homeland Security said about "1,000 rioters" had protested on Friday. Reuters could not verify the DHS account. On Saturday law enforcement faced off against a few hundred protesters in Paramount in southeast Los Angeles and then later on Saturday with about 100 people in downtown Los Angeles, according to Reuters witnesses. Federal law enforcement was seen firing gas canisters in Paramount and downtown Los Angeles on Saturday to try and disperse protesters. The Los Angeles Police Department arrested 27 people on Saturday for failure to disperse from the downtown protest, police spokesperson Norma Eisenman said. She said she could not comment on whether LAPD used less lethal force. Less lethal force refers to crowd control tactics such as pepper balls. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department arrested three people on Saturday on suspicion of assaulting an officer. Sheriff's deputies did use "less lethal force" in Paramount, spokesperson Deputy Brenda Serna said, but she could not specify which exact tactics were used. The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where census data suggests a significant part of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump's Republican White House, which has made an immigration crackdown a hallmark of his second term. Trump in a presidential memorandum on Saturday said he was deploying at least 2,000 National Guard personnel following what he described as "numerous incidents of violence and disorder" in response to the enforcement of federal immigration law, as well as "credible threats of continued violence." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also warned that the Pentagon was prepared to mobilize active-duty troops "if violence continues" in Los Angeles, saying the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were "on high alert." "There is plenty of room for peaceful protest, but ZERO tolerance for attacking federal agents who are doing their job. The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE," Hegseth said in a social media post on Sunday, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Democratic Congresswoman Nanette Barragan, whose California district includes Paramount, on Sunday criticized the president's decision to deploy National Guard troops, arguing that local law enforcement has adequate resources to respond. "We don't need the help. This is him escalating it, causing tensions to rise. It's only going to make things worse in a situation where people are already angry over immigration enforcement," Barragan told CNN's "State of the Union." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that the National Guard would provide safety around buildings, to people engaged in peaceful protest and to law enforcement. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles on Friday arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations. Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the U.S.-Mexico border, setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day. But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also included people legally residing in the country, some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Trump uses LA protests to redirect dissent from policy failures to the ‘enemy within'
Donald Trump walked out to a thunderous standing ovation as Kid Rock's 'American Bad Ass' boomed from the sound system. He watched martial artists slug it out behind a chain-link fence. A female champion let the US president try on her gold belt. It was a night of machismo, spectacle and violence. Shortly before he joined an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday night, Trump had signed an order deploying 2,000 national guard troops to Los Angeles, where protests sparked by sweeping immigration raids led to clashes between authorities and demonstrators. The White House said Trump was sending in the guardsmen to 'address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester' in California. Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said the move was 'purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions'. Experts said it was the first time in 60 years that a president has activated a state's national guard – a reserve military – without a request from its governor. Critics also saw it as an authoritarian flex by a strongman president who has relentlessly trampled norms and burst through guardrails. Since returning to office in January, Trump has sought to crush dissent at cultural institutions, law firms, media companies and universities. Many believed it was only a matter of time before he took the fight to the streets. The protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raids present him with an antagonist that can be used as a focal point for anger, hatred and fear, ensuring that dissent is redirected away from the government and toward 'an enemy within'. Trump is the master of distraction and, with the help of lurid rightwing media clips, wants to divert attention from policy failures and his ugly feud with Elon Musk. Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator, tweeted: 'Important to remember that Trump isn't trying to heal or keep the peace. He is looking to inflame and divide. His movement doesn't believe in democracy or protest – and if they get a chance to end the rule of law they will take it. None of this is on the level.' As with much else in his scorched earth second term, Trump advertised this in advance. Last October he told Fox News: 'I always say, we have two enemies. We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within, and the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries.' He added: 'We have some very bad people. We have some sick people. Radical left lunatics I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can't let that happen.' There are echoes of 2020 when Trump used national guard troops in Washington to quell Black Lives Matter protests that arose after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers. The troops fired teargas to clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square near the White House to allow Trump to stage a photo-op at a church. The former defense secretary Mark Esper later revealed that Trump asked about the protesters: 'Can't you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?' Trump and his rightwing allies have been busy rewriting the history of 2020 as a flashpoint when rioters brought carnage to US cities. Yet their narrative omits Trump's conspicuous failure to active the national guard in response to his supporters' attempt to overturn his election defeat by laying siege to the US Capitol on January 6 2021. Cory Booker, a Democratic senator for New Jersey, told NBC's Meet the Press programme on Sunday: 'We are now at a point where we have a president who sat back and did nothing as people stormed our Capitol, viciously beat police, and then when those people – who viciously beat police and led to some of their deaths, therefore cop killers – were convicted by juries, he then pardoned them all. 'So for him to be talking to anybody right now about responsible law enforcement to protect people is hypocritical at best.' Now California – a Democrat-dominated state regularly invoked by Trump and his allies as a hive of 'wokeness' and immigration lawlessness – is the ideal target for Trump to whip up the fervor and resentments of his base. The government is deploying the national guard 'not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle,' Newsom wrote on social media. 'Don't give them one.' In a sign of how much has changed from his first term, there are no Mark Espers to push back this time. Instead the current defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, threatened to involve regular military forces, writing that active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton were on high alert and would also be mobilized 'if violence continues'. And Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff and architect of Trump's draconian immigration crackdown, posted messages such as 'We will take back America' and 'Insurrection' – the latter raising the spectre of Trump invoking the Insurrection Act, one of the most powerful emergency powers at the disposal of a president. The 18th-century wartime law would allow Trump to deploy the military on US soil against civilian protests, evoking parallels with autocratic regimes around the world that declare martial law. Again, the president has teed up a preview: on Saturday tanks will roll on the streets of Washington for a parade to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US army. It also happens to be Trump's birthday.
