Ofcom’s data notices to Meta, TikTok and X face court challenge
The court challenge concerns information notices issued in February under the Online Safety Act. The companies dispute their scope; Ofcom says the requests were narrowed and remain necessary.
Ofcom’s February information notices to Meta, TikTok and X are being challenged in court under the Online Safety Act. The notices seek granular data on removed or less visible posts and users who saw harmful content. Ofcom says it requires the information to assess whether the statutory regime is working.
The dispute places the regulator’s information-gathering powers and the companies’ objections before the court. The source report identifies Monday as the day Reuters reported the challenge. It describes the case as one of the first brought under the 2023 law. The hearing was due to conclude on Wednesday.
Notices seek moderation and exposure figures
An information notice is a formal request for data issued by a regulator to a company. Ofcom’s notices asked for figures showing how many posts platforms removed or made less visible. They also sought information about how many users had encountered harmful content. The requests thus cover both moderation actions and audience exposure.
Meta, TikTok and X challenge the notices’ breadth and burden. Reuters reported that the companies describe them as an unprecedented regulatory burden. X’s witness statement called its notice the most burdensome information request it had received from any regulator in any jurisdiction. That description is X’s submission, not a court finding.
The law assigns Ofcom a regulatory role
The Online Safety Act establishes tougher standards for services including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X. Its stated aim is to protect children from harmful and illegal content. Ofcom said Parliament gave it responsibility for regulating an industry that had been unregulated and unaccountable for more than 20 years. The law permits fines of up to 10% of global turnover for the most serious breaches.
The current proceedings concern Ofcom’s information requests. They are distinct from enforcement outcomes such as a fine. The source report says Ofcom has open investigations under the law, including an investigation into TikTok over child safety and one into Telegram. It does not report a finding or penalty in those investigations.
The parties set out different positions
Meta told the court that Ofcom sought wide-ranging, granular information about seven of its services. It argued that the regulator had not identified a clearly defined regulatory purpose for that request. TikTok said Ofcom had bypassed a separate monitoring regime with its own safeguards. These statements represent the companies’ positions in the proceedings.
Ofcom said the information is genuinely needed to judge whether the regime is working. It also said it narrowed the scope before the notices took effect. The court’s assessment of the notices remains pending in the reported account. The report does not specify any interim ruling or the precise data ultimately required.
Separate billing challenge remains pending
A separate challenge by Meta concerns how Ofcom calculates bills under the Online Safety Act. Reuters reported that this case should reach court next week. The billing issue is separate from the present dispute over moderation and harmful-content data. No outcome is stated in the source report.
The hearing on the information notices was scheduled to end on Wednesday. The source material does not provide the court’s decision or a later procedural step. It also leaves open how the judge will weigh Ofcom’s stated need against the companies’ objections. The ruling will address the scope of this data request under the law.