Meta challenges UK's Ofcom over WhatsApp and Instagram classification

Lawyers for Meta filed an appeal this week against Ofcom's decision to place WhatsApp and Instagram in a category subject to additional obligations under the Online Safety Act. These obligations include greater transparency, expanded user controls, measures against fraudulent advertising, and stricter recording of illegal content.

This marks Meta's second legal challenge against Ofcom this year. In May, the company already launched a case in London arguing that the regulator's method for calculating fees was flawed, since it is based on a company's global revenue rather than UK-specific earnings.

Wider context

Breaches of the Online Safety Act can result in fines of up to 10% of a company's qualifying worldwide revenue or £18m, whichever is higher. Ofcom funds part of its operations using a share of that revenue. Similar legal actions have been brought by TikTok and X, challenging how much information they must disclose to Ofcom for monitoring purposes.

Speaking to a House of Lords committee on Tuesday, Ofcom's online safety director Oliver Griffiths acknowledged the regulator is operating in a highly litigious environment, facing two actions from Meta alone as well as judicial reviews from other services over data collection demands.

A Meta spokesperson said the company, like TikTok, Roblox, X and Quora, is not challenging the law itself but specific aspects of its implementation, describing this as a normal part of settling a new regulatory regime.

Digital, culture, media and sport secretary Lisa Nandy said last week that the government would keep introducing legislation to govern the internet, noting that laws will need to be updated more frequently given how fast technology is evolving.