A meagre porn app that’s been made available on iPhones in Europe could become a weapon in President Donald Trump’s plan to slap tariffs on the continent.
For a long time, US tech companies have wanted Europe to wind back regulation that has seen the likes of Google, Apple and Meta fined billions of dollars for antitrust and other breaches of law.
Trump tariffs now present as a tool for the US government to bring the European Union to heel. Any move against Europe in turn could impact Australia which has taken on big tech on several regulatory fronts.
This includes the introduction of the media bargaining code, trying to force big tech to pay more of its share of tax, addressing concerns about breaches of copyright law during the training of generative AI models, and, last year, legislation to introduce an age limit on teenagers accessing some social media sites.
Can Australia keep this pressure up? Events oversees could impair its efforts.
This week there was another flare-up which may look minor but adds to the litany of complaints by big tech against EU law.
Apple protested vigorously that it had to wave through the addition of an adult browser to remain on its iPhones in Europe because of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The Act forces tech companies to permit third-party app stores on their products.
However, in Apple’s case, the presence of this ‘Hot Tub’ app on iPhones is contrary to Apple’s values.
The DMA is a major plank in Europe’s regulation of tech and seeks to stop, among other things, the marketing monopoly and resulting billions in commissions collected by Apple through its App Store.
Apple is between a rock and a hard place. European law requires it must certify apps that run on its iPhones even if they originate from third-party app stores over which it has little control.
Apple certified Hot Tub against its will. Apple says the EU’s DMA is exposing Europeans to content that would otherwise not be allowed in the App Store.
“This includes apps that distribute pornography, hate speech, or weapons; and apps that encourage the consumption of tobacco or vape products, alcohol, or legal drugs among adults.”
The mention of drugs, legal or otherwise, might prick the ears of Trump and technologist Elon Musk, given Trump’s waging of war against the synthetic opioid Fentanyl and its mentions in tariffs announced against Mexico, Canada and China.
It has been on the cards for a very long time that the US would eventually demand that Europe roll back some aspects of DMA regulation and the Digital Services Act, and this is coming to a head.
A Make Europe Great Again Cap
Europe indeed has become public enemy number one. Musk has been fuming at Europe’s move to impose tariffs on EVs made in China. He imports many of his Tesla EVs into Europe from the company’s Shanghai factory.
Musk has also spent considerable energy actively supporting Germany’s right wing Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) party ahead of the coming German election. He wants political reform in western Europe countries in general.
Musk’s declared disdain of European regulation is the icing on the cake and is another indicator that Trump will have wide support among the big US tech companies for this likely move against European regulation.
Add Europe’s already sizeable tariffs against US goods, and the stage is set for a mighty showdown unless calm heads prevail from the start.
The European Commission has said it will retaliate against any US tariffs. The New York Times has reported that the commission has been drawing up secret plans for carefully targeted retaliatory sanctions for months, in anticipation of a Trump election victory.
One option, cited by The Financial Times, is an “anti-coercion instrument” which gives the commission a range of options if there is evidence it is being forced to change policies. One would be to revoke the protection of intellectual property rights for big tech companies in Europe.
The Guardian has quoted a letter from 39 organisations to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen urging the commission not to be bullied by Trump or Musk, and not to weaken enforcement of the DMA or DSA.
But it will be almost impossible for Europe to come out unscathed if a vicious trade war breaks out. In 2023, 19.7% of EU exports went to the US, which was Europe’s largest export destination, according to EU figures.
Targeting those exports with tariffs would represent a mighty blow to Europe’s economy.
It should be said that users accessing porn on Apple iPhones (the original concern here) is not new; you don’t need an app, it’s possible with a standard browser, and on Android devices you can circumvent app stores by simply side-loading apps.
Nevertheless, Apple and CEO Tim Cook might feel a sense of righteousness if Europe is forced to wind back some regulation in the face of tariffs, and for the Hot Tub to turn from tepid to cold.
Any rollback of European regulation will have Australians wondering about the future of proposed regulatory moves to rein in big tech down under.
