On Tuesday, October 6th, the UK communications regulator Ofcom announced that they will officially investigate Meta’s Instagram’s new instant sharing feature called “Instants” to understand whether the feature underwent a risk assessment in compliance with the UK’s Online Safety Act before its launch.
Meta introduced Instants in May this year, allowing users to instantly share images that disappear upon viewing and are only visible to “Close Friends” or accounts mutually following each other. Meta promotes this feature as a “new way to instantly share photos.”
Recent statements from Ofcom suggest suspicions that Meta did not conduct a comprehensive risk assessment before launching Instants. According to tech news website The Next Web (TNW), Ofcom will review two required assessments: the evaluation of risks related to illegal content within the Instants feature and the evaluation of risks posed to children.
Ofcom is keen to assess whether Meta properly completed these two evaluations before the feature went live.
Under the Online Safety Act, social media platforms must update their risk assessments before making any significant changes to how their services operate. Earlier this year, Ofcom warned large platforms that skipping this step could result in enforcement actions.
George Lusty, Enforcement Director at Ofcom, likened risk assessment to testing a new car before it hits the market. He stated that safety must be integrated into the product design from the beginning, and regulatory authorities will take action when there are doubts about a product’s compliance.
Ofcom will first collect and analyze evidence. If potential non-compliance is found, Ofcom will issue an interim decision, allowing Meta to provide a comprehensive response before the final ruling.
If Meta is found to be in violation, Ofcom can mandate the company to take remedial measures and impose fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global turnover, whichever is higher.
Meta told Reuters that the company takes its obligations under the Online Safety Act seriously, stating that they conducted a risk assessment, reported to Ofcom multiple times before launching Instants, and will cooperate fully.
Meta also mentioned that Instants will block screen captures, forwarding, and sharing, has no public feed, and includes default youth account protection features.
This is not the first regulatory friction between Meta and Ofcom. Ofcom previously launched an investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp Business over information provision issues. Additionally, Meta is challenging certain requirements under the Online Safety Act in court, including regulatory fees and partial information provision obligations.
Ofcom stated that further updates will be provided during the progress of the investigation.