Zuckerberg’s Meta sues Ofcom over Online Safety Act
Lawyers for Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta say a handful of companies are ‘bearing the vast majority of Ofcom’s costs’ - Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Mark Zuckerberg is mounting a legal challenge against Ofcom concerning the cost of its new online safety laws. Meta has brought a High Court case against the regulator, claiming that its methodology for calculating fees and potential fines is “disproportionate” and should be redrawn. The Online Safety Act, which came into force last summer, aims to protect children from harmful material online. Ofcom oversees the laws as Britain’s first internet regulator and will fund this work through fees charged to tech firms. Under regulations introduced in September, these fees will be based on a company’s global revenues and apply to those making more than £250m a year. Ofcom also has the power to hand down fines to companies that break the rules, with penalties capped at either 10pc of revenues or £18m, whichever is higher. Lawyers for Meta argue the regulations are unlawful and Ofcom should be ordered to remake them. Monica Carss-Frisk KC, acting for the tech giant, said in court documents that Ofcom’s approach led to “a handful of companies, such as Meta, bearing the vast majority of Ofcom’s costs, despite the act making clear that it is concerned with a wide range of internet services offered in the UK”. Ms Carss-Frisk called the arrangement “troubling”. A spokesman for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said: “We are committed to cooperating constructively with Ofcom as it enforces the Online Safety Act. “However, we and others in the tech industry believe its decisions on the methodology to calculate fees and potential fines are disproportionate.” Meta wants fees and penalties to be calculated based only on UK revenues made from relevant services. The company added that this would still allow Ofcom to impose the “largest fines in UK corporate history”. Ofcom said it will “robustly defend our reasoning and decisions”. A spokesman added: “Meta have initiated a judicial review in relation to online safety fees and penalties. “Under the Online Safety Act, these are to be set with reference to a provider’s qualifying worldwide revenue, which we have defined based on a plain reading of the law. “Disappointingly, Meta are objecting to the payment of fees, and any penalties that could be levied on companies in future, that are calculated on this basis.” Damian Collins, a former tech minister, wrote on X: “Today Meta is demonstrating that its top priority for Online Safety is limiting its own liability for the harm caused by platforms like Facebook and Instagram, rather than improving safety for users.” The legal challenge marks an escalation in the stand-off between Silicon Valley tech giants and Britain regarding the new online safety laws.
