Ofcom is investigating Meta for a potential breach of UK digital safety laws following the launch of Instagram Instants, a Snapchat-style feature that lets users send disappearing images.
The communications watchdog is examining whether the company, valued at $1.9tn (£1.4tn), infringed the Online Safety Act (OSA) by failing to conduct adequate checks on whether the product could show illegal content or be accessed by children.
Risk assessment requirements
Social media companies must carry out risk assessments before making significant changes to their service’s design or operation. Breaching the OSA can lead to actions ranging from a formal warning to a fine of up to 10% of global revenue.
George Lusty, Ofcom’s director of enforcement, said risk assessments were a vital step in keeping tech platforms safe for users. “You wouldn’t launch a new car without testing it properly, and it’s the same for online services,” he said. “Safety by design must be built in, not bolted on, and today’s investigation shows we’ll take action where we have concerns that providers are failing to comply.”
Meta’s response and safeguards
Instagram’s Instants feature allows users to send images that disappear after viewing. The company said it had conducted a risk analysis of Instants and talked to Ofcom on several occasions before launching it. It said the feature carried protections such as blocking forwarding and included all safeguards under its teen account settings, the default mode for under-18s on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
“We will of course cooperate with Ofcom during this investigation,” a Meta spokesperson said.
Ongoing legal challenges
The Molly Rose Foundation, a charity established by the family of Molly Russell, a teenager who took her own life after viewing harmful content on Instagram, said it was crucial that Meta was “held to account for their failures under the Online Safety Act”.
Ofcom is already investigating whether Meta breached the law by failing to comply with a request for information related to its WhatsApp platform. Zuckerberg’s company is challenging Ofcom in court over the OSA, including suing the regulator in the high court over how it charges tech firms fees to cover operating costs, and in a further case it is challenging Ofcom placing it in a new category under the act that subjects it to additional duties.
Meta has also joined TikTok and Elon Musk’s X in a court challenge over the amount of information Ofcom is demanding they provide under the UK’s new online safety regime.
