Meta challenges UK media regulator over fees, fines

Under regulations introduced in September 2025, the fees are based on a company's qualifying worldwide revenue and apply to firms earning more than £250 million a year. Meta explicitly argues that Ofcom's calculation methods are disproportionate and unlawful, while Ofcom said it would "robustly defend" its position.

Read:Microsoft president says milk faces more regulation than AITheBBCreported in May that lawyers acting for Meta argued that the regulations should be reconsidered by the regulator.

Monica Carss-Frisk KC, for the tech giant, has said in court documents that Ofcom's approach is "troubling" and leads 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.”Under the Online Safety Act, firms found to have breached safety rules can face fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue or £18 million ($23.7 million), whichever is greater.

Meanwhile, a senior director at the regulator House of Lords earlier this year that Ofcom was "operating in a highly litigious environment," including facing two actions by Meta and others from "a raft of services" bringing judicial reviews against the body for trying to collect data.

"We absolutely are looking to drive change in the best way we can," Oliver Griffiths, the Ofcom group director for online safety, the Online Safety Act.