![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/why-us-tech-giants-are-threatening-to-quit-the-uk/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/130596108_gettyimages-1230608890.jpg&description=Image source, Getty Images It was difficult to maintain a poker face when the leader of a big US tech firm I was chatting to said there was a definite tipping point at which the firm would exit the UK. I could see my own surprise mirrored on the faces of the other people in the room - many of whom worked there. They hadn't heard this before either, one told me afterwards. I can't tell you who it was but it's a brand you would probably recognise. I've been doing this job for long enough to recognise a petulant tech ego when I meet one. From Big Tech, there's often big talk. But this felt different. It reflected a sentiment I have been hearing quite loudly of late, from this lucrative and powerful US-based sector. Many of these companies are increasingly fed up. Their "tipping point" is UK regulation - and it's coming at them thick and fast. The Online Safety Bill is due to pass in the autumn. Aimed at protecting children, it lays down strict rules around policing social media content, with high financial penalties and prison time for individual tech execs if the firms fail to comply. One clause that has proved particularly controversial is a proposal that encrypted messages , which includes those sent on WhatsApp, can be read and handed over to law enforcement by the platforms they are sent on, if there is deemed to be a national security or child protection risk. The NSPCC children's charity has described encrypted messaging apps as the "front line" of where child abuse images are shared, but it is also seen as an essential security tool for activists, journalists and politicians. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, WhatsApp and Signal have both threatened to quit the UK market over proposed changes to encryption in the Online Safety Bill Currently messaging apps like WhatsApp, Proton and Signal, which offer this encryption, cannot see the content of these messages themselves. WhatsApp and Signal have both threatened to quit the UK market over this demand. The){kind=link}
It was difficult to maintain a poker face when the leader of a big US tech firm I was chatting to said there was a definite tipping point at which the firm would exit the UK.
I could see my own surprise mirrored on the faces of the other people in the room – many of whom worked there.
They hadn’t heard this before either, one told me afterwards.
I can’t tell you who it was but it’s a brand you would probably recognise.
I’ve been doing this job for long enough to recognise a petulant tech ego when I meet one. From Big Tech, there’s often big talk. But this felt different.