Tech giants face tougher Ofcom demands after High Court ruling

Meta, Tiktok and X will face a tougher battle resisting Ofcom’s demands for online safety data after the High Court ruled that tech giants must provide detailed evidence of compliance costs in order to challenge the regulator’s requests. The judgment, handed down on Friday, strengthens Ofcom’s ability to demand information from social media platforms even before it has decided whether to pursue further regulatory action. It follows an unsuccessful legal challenge by Meta, WhatsApp, X and Tiktok to notices requiring them to provide historical data on user activity, harmful content and moderation practices dating back to January 2024. While the dismissal was revealed last week, the judgment sets out a significant hurdle for future challenges by refusing to allow companies to claim that information requests are excessive without demonstrating the additional work involved. A general assertion that less burdensome notices could have been issued without unduly detracting from th