Key facts
- The High Court rejected challenges by Meta, WhatsApp, X and TikTok to Ofcom's information notices.
- The judges said Ofcom need not decide a specific regulatory action before demanding data.
- Platforms complaining about workload must show what extra work the demands create, the court said.
- Ofcom's questions covered user activity, content removed, response times, exposure and complaints.
- The requests stretched back to January 2024, before platforms' new safety duties took effect.
- X and TikTok argued the demands interfered with privacy rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Meta, TikTok, X and Meta's messaging platform WhatsApp failed in a High Court challenge to information notices issued by UK communications regulator Ofcom under the Online Safety Act 2023, according to ICLG.
Ofcom issued the notices on February 10, 2026 under section 100 of the Act, which lets it demand information to support its work protecting UK users from illegal content and children from harmful material. The regulator's questions covered user activity, content removed or moderated, how quickly platforms acted, users' exposure to that content, and complaints and appeals. The requests stretched back to January 2024, allowing comparisons with the period before platforms' new safety duties took effect.
The platforms argued Ofcom was sidestepping the Act's separate transparency reporting system, which requires certain platforms to publish information with limits on what can be demanded and how often. They questioned whether the regulator needed all the data for purposes authorized by Parliament, and challenged its failure to carry out a formal impact assessment and its compliance with published guidance. TikTok also argued Ofcom appeared to have made up its mind to build a database before working out a legal justification. X and TikTok said the demands interfered with their privacy and control over their own information under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Ofcom said it needed reliable evidence to do its job and had adjusted its requests in response to some of the platforms' comments.
Lord Justice Singh and Mrs Justice Collins Rice handed down judgment in London on October 30, 2026. They rejected the argument that the transparency reporting system restricted Ofcom's information-gathering powers, saying requiring companies to publish reports served a different purpose from gathering information for the regulator's own work. Ofcom did not have to decide on any specific regulatory action before asking for data, and Parliament had expressly allowed it to collect information to help it decide what to do. The judges also said companies complaining about the additional workload must show what extra work the demands actually create, while each demand must still be proportionate to what the regulator intends to do with the information.