Meta, TikTok and X lose UK court challenge against Ofcom over online safety data demands
London's High Court has rejected a legal challenge by Meta, TikTok and X against Ofcom's demands for detailed content-moderation data under Britain's Online Safety Act.
Meta, TikTok and X have lost a legal challenge against Britain's media regulator Ofcom over the amount of information it is demanding from them under the country's online safety regime, in one of the first court tests of the 2023 Online Safety Act. London's High Court rejected the companies' case on Friday, Reuters reported.
The dispute centred on information notices issued by Ofcom in February, which asked the platforms for detailed content-moderation metrics. The regulator wanted data on how many posts were removed or had their visibility restricted, and how many users were exposed to harmful content, as part of its work to enforce tougher standards for online platforms.
Meta, TikTok and X argued that the notices created unprecedented regulatory burdens and would impose disproportionate costs. The court disagreed, clearing the way for Ofcom to continue pressing for the data as it implements a regime designed, in particular, to protect children from harmful and illegal content.
The Online Safety Act sets stricter obligations for large platforms, including TikTok, X and Meta's Facebook and Instagram. Ofcom has been rolling out the regime gradually, and its requirements are backed by the threat of fines of up to 10 per cent of a company's global turnover for the most serious breaches, giving the regulator considerable leverage over even the largest technology firms.
The ruling is significant because it is an early judicial test of the act's enforcement machinery. Until now, much of the debate about the legislation has been about its scope and its implications for free expression. The High Court's decision instead addresses the practical question of whether Ofcom can compel detailed operational data from platforms to check whether they are complying.
None of the companies, nor Ofcom, immediately responded to requests for comment after the ruling, according to Reuters. The absence of an immediate reaction leaves open whether the platforms will seek to appeal, comply with the notices in full, or pursue further legal challenges on narrower grounds.
The decision does not settle every dispute between the platforms and the regulator. A separate decision is still awaited in Meta's challenge to Ofcom's approach to calculating fees and potential financial penalties, and Meta is also contesting Ofcom's classification of WhatsApp under the new framework. Those cases could yet shape how the regime applies in practice.
For Ofcom, however, the ruling is a clear boost. The regulator has faced criticism from both directions, from campaigners who say it is moving too slowly and from platforms that say its demands are excessive. A court ruling in its favour on information-gathering strengthens its hand as it seeks to hold platforms to account for what users see on their services.
The case will also be watched closely outside Britain. Other countries are designing their own online safety regimes, and the way British courts handle the balance between regulatory oversight and the burden on global platforms is likely to inform debates elsewhere, including in the European Union and the United States.
What happens next is, in the first instance, procedural: the platforms must now respond to Ofcom's information notices, and the regulator will use the data to assess compliance. But the broader contest over who sets the rules for the world's largest online platforms, and how far regulators can go in demanding transparency, is only just beginning.
