Meta takes Ofcom to High Court over how online safety fines are worked out

Meta has begun a High Court challenge in London against the way Ofcom calculates the charges and fines it can impose under the UK's online safety regime. The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, argues that basing penalties on worldwide revenue rather than money earned in Britain alone is disproportionate.

The Online Safety Act 2023 allows Ofcom to fine platforms up to 10% of qualifying global turnover or £18 million (about 23.9 million dollars), whichever figure is higher. Meta says the regulator has gone beyond its powers by defining the relevant revenue too broadly, in order to push penalties towards their maximum. The company also objects to how sanctions are calculated when several services belonging to one business are jointly responsible for breaches.

Meta's position is that charges and penalties should be worked out from the regulated services and the territories actually involved. The company says it wants to remain constructive in its dealings with the regulator, but believes the current approach to calculating penalties is wrong.

Ofcom's response

Ofcom defends what it calls a proportionate method. It points out that global turnover is used only to set the ceiling for a fine, while the amount actually imposed depends on how serious the shortcomings are. The regulator also points to its duty to oversee a sector that operated for a long time without any regulation, and says it will defend its decisions robustly in court.

Wider disputes with the regulator

The legal challenge was filed a week after Ofcom opened an investigation into the risk assessment for Instagram Instants, a service launched in May. Separately, Meta has joined TikTok and X in another court case concerning the information Ofcom requires platforms to hand over.

The dispute turns on how the statute should be read. Under the Online Safety Act, services children are likely to use must prevent children from encountering the most harmful content, including pornography and material encouraging self-harm or suicide, and must check the risks to children. The government's own explainer of the Act notes that penalties can reach the higher of £18 million or 10% of a company's worldwide yearly income, and that senior managers can face criminal charges if they ignore certain Ofcom notices about child safety. Ofcom is the regulator responsible for enforcing those duties.

The UK framework is built around regulation rather than individual claims. That distinguishes it from the United States, where families sue the platforms directly: in March 2026 a Los Angeles jury found Meta, over Instagram, and Google, over YouTube, negligent in the design or operation of their platforms and in failing to warn, in a case brought over a young woman identified as K.G.M. In August 2026 the Ninth Circuit dismissed appeals by Meta and TikTok against orders that had partly declined to dismiss claims on Section 230 grounds, holding that it lacked jurisdiction at that stage.

The High Court proceedings against Ofcom continue.