October 31, 2026
On Friday, the Supreme Court in London rejected a legal appeal filed by the companies “Meta”, “Tik Tok”, and “X”, against the British communications regulatory authority “Ofcom”, in a dispute related to requirements to provide detailed data about content monitoring mechanisms.
According to Reuters, the decision came to support the regulatory body’s requests requiring companies to provide comprehensive data, including the numbers of deleted or restricted posts, as well as statistics of users who were exposed to harmful content.
The roots of the dispute go back to last February, when Ofcom issued data requests based on the “Online Safety Act” of 2023, which imposes strict obligations on technology companies to protect users, especially children, from illegal and harmful content.
In their defence, technology companies have argued that the volume of data requested imposes unprecedented financial and regulatory burdens, with X estimating the cost of responding to these requests at millions of pounds. However, the court found that the companies failed to provide sufficient justifications demonstrating that these requests were not compatible with the authority’s legal powers.
Following the issuance of the ruling, Ofcom welcomed the decision, stressing the importance of this data in enabling it to perform its oversight role efficiently. On the other hand, the “Meta” company expressed its disappointment with the ruling, while “Tik Tok” confirmed that it was studying its merits, while there was no immediate comment from the “X” platform.
It is noteworthy that the “Internet Safety Act” gives the British authorities broad powers that include imposing financial fines that may reach 10% of the global revenues of violating companies in cases of serious violations, which doubles the regulatory pressures applied to social media platforms.
