Tech giants threaten to pull out of UK if new regulator gets power to prosecute their bosses

Tech giants are threatening to pull out of the UK if a new law allows senior executives to be prosecuted, the Telegraph has learned.

The Internet Association (IA), the official lobbying arm for companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Microsoft, has warned the Government that arming a new online regulator with such powers would create “a disincentive for existing businesses to continue to provide their services in the UK.”

IA is also arguing that forcing social media companies to build a “backdoor” into message encryption for the police and security services would “undermine civil liberties” and that allowing a regulator to investigate their secret algorithms would be “unfair”….