Tuesday’s development: Ofcom has opened a formal investigation into Meta’s Instagram’s Instants feature, launched in May. The regulator will examine whether Meta assessed risks before making the feature available. If a breach is found, the possible fine is £18m or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater.
What does Ofcom want to establish?
Ofcom is examining whether Meta completed two risk assessments required by the Online Safety Act before Instants went live. One assessment covers the risk of illegal content on the feature. The other considers risks to children, and the regulator wants to know whether both were done properly.
What does a risk assessment mean here?
In this case, a risk assessment means checking relevant safety risks before a significant change to a service is launched. The Act requires platforms to update these checks when their service changes significantly. Ofcom warned the largest platforms earlier this year that skipping the required step could lead to enforcement.
What is Instagram’s Instants feature?
Instants lets Instagram users share posts that disappear after they have been seen. Meta launched the feature in May, and Ofcom’s investigation concerns the checks made before that launch. The regulator has not said in the source that Instants caused harm or that Meta has already been found in breach.
Meta told Reuters it takes its duties under the Act seriously, carried out a risk review and briefed Ofcom about Instants several times before launch. The company also said it would cooperate with the investigation. These points are Meta’s account of its actions, not findings announced by Ofcom.
Has Ofcom decided that Meta broke the law?
No breach finding has been announced. Ofcom says it will gather and study evidence first, and if it sees a likely breach, it will issue a provisional decision. Meta would then have a full opportunity to respond before Ofcom reached a final ruling.
What could happen if Ofcom finds a breach?
Ofcom could order Meta to comply with the law or to put right any harm caused. The regulator could also fine the company up to £18m or 10% of its qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever amount is greater. The source provides no revenue figure for calculating a possible penalty, and no fine has been imposed at this stage.
Meta said Instants blocks screenshots, resharing and forwarding, does not have a public feed, and turns on Teen Account protections by default. Those are safeguards the company says it provides. Ofcom’s inquiry will still assess whether the required risk checks were completed properly before launch, rather than treating the listed measures as a final answer.
George Lusty, Ofcom’s director of enforcement, said platform changes must receive risk assessments before launch. He compared the responsibility to testing a new car before it is sold, and said safety must be considered from the start. This describes Ofcom’s position on the duty; the formal investigation will determine how it applies to the checks for Instants.
The next stated step is evidence gathering, after which Ofcom may issue a provisional decision if it considers a breach likely. Meta can respond before any final ruling, and the source gives no timetable for those steps. Separately, Meta has brought a case against Ofcom over parts of the Act, including its information demands and fees; the source does not explain how that case affects this inquiry.