As a new year dawns expect a fresh assault on big tech | John Naughton

Democracies have finally begun to confront the internet giants and their unrivalled and untrammelled power

The thing about history is that it sometimes repeats itself. As far as the tech industry is concerned, we saw that in the year just ended and it looks as though we're about to see it again in the year that's just begun.

First things first, though: 2021 was the year in which it finally became clear that the free ride that Google and co have enjoyed for two decades was coming to an end - that tech was going to become a regulated industry. Exactly how that was going to pan out was unclear, but the direction of travel was unmistakable.