Meta, TikTok and X lose UK legal challenge against Ofcom information requests

LONDON: Meta, TikTok and X have lost a legal challenge against Britain’s media regulator Ofcom over demands for detailed information on content moderation, in a significant early test of the country’s Online Safety Act, Reuters reported.

The London High Court on Friday rejected the platforms’ arguments that Ofcom’s information requests were disproportionate, backing the regulator’s authority to gather data needed to assess how social media companies manage harmful and illegal content.

The case is among several legal challenges to aspects of the Online Safety Act 2023, which imposes stricter obligations on online platforms, including TikTok, X and Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, with a particular focus on protecting children.

Ofcom issued information notices to the three companies in February, seeking detailed content moderation metrics. These included figures on posts removed or restricted in visibility, as well as the number of users exposed to harmful material.

The companies argued that complying with the requests would create unprecedented regulatory burdens. X described its notice as the most burdensome information request it had received from any regulator and said compliance would cost millions of pounds.

Meta, TikTok and X also argued that the scale of the information gathering went beyond what was necessary and proportionate. The court dismissed their challenge.

An Ofcom spokesperson welcomed the ruling, saying that gathering information from companies was fundamental to the regulator’s ability to perform its duties.

A Meta spokesperson said the company was disappointed with the decision, but maintained that the challenge had been brought because the information requests went beyond what was necessary or proportionate.

The ruling is a boost for Ofcom as it gradually implements the Online Safety Act, whose most serious breaches can attract fines of up to 10 per cent of a company’s global turnover.

However, a separate and potentially more consequential legal challenge by Meta remains pending. It concerns Ofcom’s method of calculating regulatory fees and potential fines. Meta is also challenging the regulator’s categorisation of WhatsApp under the new regime.

Earlier this month, Meta became the subject of Ofcom’s first formal investigation under the Online Safety Act, adding to the scrutiny facing the company as Britain’s online safety framework takes shape.