Online data safety, Meta, TikTok and X challenge British regulator Ofcom

Meta, TikTok and X are challenging British regulator Ofcom over the amount of information it asks them to provide under Britain’s new online safety regime.

The challenge is one of the first regarding the Online Safety Act of 2023, which sets stricter standards for platforms such as TikTok, X and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, with the aim of protecting children from harmful and illegal content.

Ofcom has been gradually implementing the regime, with its requirements backed by the threat of fines of up to 10% of a company’s global turnover for the most serious breaches.

In February, it issued information notices requesting detailed content moderation metrics from the tech companies, including data on how many posts were removed or had their visibility restricted and how many users were exposed to harmful content.

But Meta, TikTok and X say the notices create an unprecedented regulatory burden, with a witness statement filed by X describing it as “the most onerous information request X has received from any regulator in any jurisdiction”.

Meta said in court filings that Ofcom wanted it to provide “extensive and detailed information” about seven of its services without any clearly defined regulatory purpose.

TikTok also said that Ofcom had sidestepped an alternative monitoring regime with specific safeguards in place.

Ofcom said the information was indeed necessary to assess whether the new regime is working, and that it had narrowed the range of information requested before implementing it.

“Parliament has charged us with the work of regulating an industry that has been unregulated and unaccountable for more than 20 years,” an Ofcom spokesman said in a statement.

This week’s hearing ends on Wednesday, with a separate legal challenge. A case brought by Meta over the way fees and fines are calculated is expected to be heard next week.