Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has challenged Britain’s media regulator, Ofcom, over how it calculates regulatory fees and potential fines under the Online Safety Act, arguing that its methods are disproportionate.
The 2023 law allows Ofcom to impose penalties of up to 10% of a company’s qualifying worldwide revenue or £18 million, about $23.9 million, whichever is higher. The regulator can also recover its operating costs through fees linked to company revenue.
At a High Court hearing in London on Tuesday, Meta argued that Ofcom had exceeded its legal powers by interpreting qualifying worldwide revenue too broadly, potentially exposing technology companies to the highest possible penalties.
The company is also challenging Ofcom’s method of calculating fines when two or more services owned by the same organisation are held jointly responsible for violations.
Ofcom defended its approach, saying it had carefully defined qualifying revenue and that worldwide revenue was used only to establish the maximum possible penalty. It maintained that any actual fine must be proportionate to the breach.
The legal dispute comes a week after Ofcom opened an investigation into whether Meta properly assessed the safety risks associated with Instagram Instants before launching the feature in May.
Meta is also involved in a separate legal challenge alongside TikTok and X over the amount of information Ofcom is demanding from technology companies.
A Meta spokesperson said the company remained committed to working constructively with the regulator but believed fees and penalties should reflect the services being regulated and the countries in which they operate.
Ofcom said it would strongly defend its decisions, adding that it had been tasked with regulating an industry that had operated for more than two decades without sufficient oversight and accountability.
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