Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is under investigation for a potential breach of the UK’s digital safety laws after launching a Snapchat-style feature on Instagram.
The communications watchdog, Ofcom, is investigating whether the $1.9 trillion company infringed the Online Safety Act by failing to carry out adequate checks on whether its Instagram Instants product could show illegal content or be accessed by children.
Social media companies are required to carry out risk assessments before making significant changes to their service’s design or operation. Breaching the OSA carries a range of potential actions, from a formal warning to a fine of up to 10% of global revenue.
The Investigation
George Lusty, the director of enforcement at Ofcom, 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.”
Instagram’s Instants feature allows users to send images that disappear after viewing. Meta said it had conducted a risk analysis of Instants and talked to Ofcom on multiple occasions before launching it.
“We will of course cooperate with Ofcom during this investigation,” a Meta spokesperson said.
The Molly Rose Foundation
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.”
The foundation has been a persistent critic of Meta and other social media platforms, arguing that they prioritize growth over user safety.
The Wider Battle
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. It is suing the regulator in the high court over how it charges tech firms fees to cover its operating costs. In a further case, it is challenging Ofcom for placing WhatsApp and Instagram 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 online safety regime.
The Bottom Line
Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether Meta breached the Online Safety Act by failing to carry out adequate risk assessments before launching Instagram Instants. The feature allows users to send disappearing images. Meta says it conducted a risk analysis and cooperated with Ofcom before launch. Potential penalties include fines of up to 10% of global revenue. The investigation is part of a broader legal battle between Meta and Ofcom.
My Opinion
Meta is a $1.9 trillion company that reaches billions of users. It has the resources to test its products before launching them. It has the legal teams to understand what the Online Safety Act requires. And yet, according to Ofcom, it launched a new feature without doing the proper risk assessments.
Ofcom’s analogy is apt: you would not launch a car without testing the brakes. So why is it acceptable to launch a feature that lets strangers send disappearing images to children without assessing the risks? The answer is that Meta has spent years treating safety as an afterthought, something to be bolted on after launch if regulators complain.
The Molly Rose Foundation knows this better than anyone. Molly Russell was 14 when she died after viewing harmful content on Instagram. Her family has spent years fighting for accountability. They have been met with apologies, promises, and little change.
Ofcom’s investigation is a test. Not just of Meta, but of whether the UK’s Online Safety Act has teeth. If the penalty is a fine that Meta can absorb, nothing changes. If the penalty is severe enough to hurt, the industry will be forced to notice.
