The UK is risking losing the business generated by major US tech companies, as the row over London's sweeping censorship law, the Online Safety Act, escalates in a number of different ways.
The law's declarative purpose is to, above all, provide a safer online environment for minors - but critics from civil society, privacy campaigners, and, the industry, have consistently pointed out that it in fact ushers in more censorship, including through age verification.
Not only are the tech companies, under the new law, expected to curtail their users' speech, and if they are found to be in breach of these rules, pay exorbitant fines - they are also expected to effectively fund the highly controversial legislative push, to the tune of about 0.02 percent of their global revenue.
That would amount to X, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, TikTok, and a number of others, paying the equivalent of about $88.2 million per year - in order to fund the law's enforcer, Ofcom.
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