Meta, TikTok, and X lost their High Court challenge to Ofcom’s demands for content moderation data under the UK’s Online Safety Act, after the London court rejected their argument that the requests were disproportionate. Ofcom sent the notices in February asking how many posts each platform took down or limited and how many people saw harmful material, and X said the request was the most burdensome it had ever received from a regulator and that complying would run to millions of pounds. Meta said it was disappointed but that information gathering on this scale goes too far, while Ofcom said collecting data from companies is central to its job. Meta still has a separate challenge pending over Ofcom’s method for setting fees and fines, which can reach 10% of global revenue.
