Ofcom investigates Meta over Instagram Instants safety checks

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 UK’s communications watchdog, Ofcom, is investigating whether the $1.9tn (£1.4tn) company infringed the Online Safety Act (OSA) 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.

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. The company said it had conducted a risk analysis of Instants and talked to Ofcom on a number of occasions before launching it. It said the feature carried protections such as blocking forwarding and included all the safeguards under its teen account settings, the default mode for under-18s on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.

“We will of course cooperate with Ofcom during this investigation,” a Meta spokesperson said.

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”.

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, and in a further case it is challenging Ofcom placing it 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 information Ofcom is demanding they provide under the UK’s new online safety regime.