- Data Dispute: Meta, TikTok and X challenge UK regulator Ofcom’s demands for social media data used to assess online safety.
- Safety Metrics: The requests cover removed or restricted posts and users exposed to harmful content.
- Request Scope: The companies contest the burden and procedure; Ofcom says it narrowed the requests before implementation.
Meta, TikTok and X are challenging UK online safety regulator Ofcom in court over demands for data on how their platforms handle harmful content. Ofcom says it needs the information to judge whether rules meant to protect users, especially children, are working.
The three challenges are being heard together in the London Administrative Court in a three-day hearing from October 5, 2026.
Reuters reports that Ofcom issued the requests in February, seeking counts of posts removed or given less visibility and of users exposed to harmful content. Those measures cover both what platforms do with content and what reaches their users.
Three Companies, Different Objections
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, argues that Ofcom sought detailed information about seven of its services without a clearly defined regulatory purpose. X says the request is more burdensome than any it has received from a regulator anywhere in the world.
TikTok argues that Ofcom bypassed another monitoring process with safeguards. It also told MLex that the regulator’s use of its information powers goes beyond what the law allows.
Ofcom’s answer is that the data are necessary to evaluate the regime. It says it reduced the scope of the information it required before implementing the requests.
What the Data Can Tell Ofcom
The Online Safety Act 2023 places child-protection duties on social platforms likely to be accessed by children. Providers must use proportionate measures to manage risks of harm and protect children from harmful content, including through the design of their services and content moderation.
A separate May 2026 arrangement with X shows how performance reporting can work. X agreed to supply quarterly data to Ofcom for 12 months under commitments that included reviewing UK users’ reports of suspected illegal terrorist and hate content within an average of 24 hours. The data would let the regulator assess that review-time target.
Broad Powers with Defined Requirements
Section 100 of the Act allows Ofcom to require information needed for its online safety functions, including requiring a recipient to obtain or generate it. That power must be used proportionately to the regulatory use of the information.
An information notice must identify what information is required and why, how and when it is to be supplied, and the consequences of noncompliance.
The Act also provides a separate annual transparency-reporting process for specified classes of social and search services. Those reports go to Ofcom and are published for the public. When choosing the information, Ofcom must consider the service’s functions, user numbers and the provider’s capacity, among other statutory factors. Its guidance must also explain how it will engage with providers before requiring report information.
The precise monitoring process underlying TikTok’s objection remains unclear.
Litigation Pressure on Safety Oversight
In September, Ofcom’s online safety director, Oliver Griffiths, told a House of Lords committee that the regulator wanted to drive change but had to avoid unnecessary legal risks against well-funded opponents.
Meta also defended its broader implementation challenges that month as a way to settle process and scope so the law would be applied proportionately, accurately and consistently.
The information-demand hearing is due to conclude on Wednesday, October 7.
