Report from the Financial Times
In Brief – Meta is mounting another legal challenge against Ofcom over the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA), adding to a series of court actions by US technology companies that British officials and politicians argue are intended to delay implementation of the law. Meta’s latest move is to appeal the designation of WhatsApp and Instagram as Category 1 services facing additional regulatory duties including protections against fraudulent advertising, arguing that those duties are inappropriate for messaging services. Roblox and Quora are also challenging their categorization as Category 1 services. Meta is separately pursuing legal challenges over Ofcom’s fees and potential fines, and over the regulator’s demands for internal company information. Meta argues that fees based on worldwide revenue are disproportionate and that information requests can exceed what is necessary or permitted. TikTok and X are also challenging aspects of Ofcom’s information requests. In reporting the lawsuits, Ofcom said it was operating in a highly litigious environment but would defend its decisions, while Meta said its challenges concern Ofcom’s interpretation and implementation of the law, rather than the legislation itself.
Context – Over the past five years, while the UK has enacted and started implementing a digital regulatory regime that parallels the EU’s, government leaders have often tried to pitch that the UK was more digital business friendly. Former Prime Minister Starmer said his government offered businesses “stability, pragmatism and the good sense they would expect from democratic British values.” The OSA, described by Ofcom as a “regulatory cousin” of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), gives the UK regulator the broad remit to “make online services safer” by requiring that “companies have effective systems in place to protect users” from a wide range of illegal and harmful content. While risks to minors and corresponding age checks have been an early priority, Ofcom has also challenged X on its efforts to address terrorism-related content and proposed a regulatory regime for platforms to address online frauds and scams.