X calls Ofcom's Online Safety Act data demand its most burdensome from any regulator
Key Takeaways
- •X, Meta, and TikTok are contesting Ofcom's transparency data demands under the UK's Online Safety Act at a London hearing running until Wednesday.
- •Ofcom's February notices require platforms to report the volume of posts they removed or hid, as well as how many users viewed harmful material.
- •X characterized Ofcom's request as the most burdensome information demand it has faced from any regulator worldwide.
- •Meta objects that Ofcom seeks broad, granular data across seven of its services without explaining the regulatory purpose, while TikTok says the regulator bypassed an existing monitoring regime with its own safeguards.
- •Ofcom, which can impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover, says it trimmed its request and cannot evaluate whether the regime is working without the data.
X has told a London court that a data request from Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, is "the most burdensome information request X has received from any regulator in any jurisdiction." The statement came on Monday as a court hearing opened in the capital, where X, Meta, and TikTok are disputing Ofcom's use of the Online Safety Act.
Breaches carry fines up to 10% of turnover
Notices issued by Ofcom in February require each platform to tally the posts it has removed or hidden from view, and to disclose how many users viewed harmful material. The case is among the first court battles over the 2023 law, which targets illegal and harmful material with a particular focus on children — making it an early test of the transparency powers at the law's core, and of how far the regulator can go in compelling data from platforms. Ofcom can fine the worst offenders up to 10% of global turnover.
Meta and TikTok push back
Meta's filings object that Ofcom is seeking "wide-ranging and granular information" on seven of its services without stating what regulatory purpose that serves. TikTok argued that the regulator sidestepped an existing monitoring regime with its own safeguards, and said Ofcom is seeking data that the Act's transparency provisions would not provide. The objections differ in detail, but all three companies are contesting the reach of what Ofcom can demand under the new law.
Ofcom, for its part, said it is unable to assess whether the regime is working without the data, and that it trimmed the request before putting it into effect. "Parliament has charged us with the job of regulating an industry that has been unregulated and unaccountable for more than 20 years," an Ofcom spokesperson said.
Prior friction between X and Ofcom
X has faced pressure from Ofcom before. In January, Prime Minister Keir Starmer asked the regulator to keep all options on the table against the platform — including a ban in the UK — over images allegedly created by its Grok chatbot.
The current hearing runs until Wednesday. Meta returns next week for a second case concerning how Ofcom computes fees and penalties — a separate front in the platforms' wider pushback against the regulator's use of the Act.
