A British High Court ruling rejected Meta, TikTok and X’s effort to limit data demands from online-safety regulator Ofcom, Reuters reported Friday, Oct. 30, putting the scope of its statutory powers at issue.
Notices issued in February 2026 sought content moderation data, including counts of posts removed or restricted and users exposed to harmful content, Reuters reported.
Meta said Ofcom had not explained the regulatory purpose for seeking information across seven services. TikTok argued that Ofcom’s approach circumvented an alternative monitoring regime with specific safeguards.
Ofcom said the information would help it assess how well the online-safety framework was working. The regulator also said it narrowed the requests before implementation, Reuters reported.
Section 100 of the Online Safety Act 2023 authorizes Ofcom to require information relevant to its online-safety work, including information a recipient must obtain or generate. The provision also requires Ofcom to use that authority proportionately. The challenge concerned the regulator’s ability to gather information; it did not resolve whether any platform had violated an online-safety duty.
