Ofcom Investigates Meta's 'Instants' Feature Under UK Online Safety Laws

According to a report from BBC UK, Ofcom is currently investigating whether Meta adhered to its obligations under the UK's online safety laws after releasing the 'Instants' feature on Instagram. This tool, which allows users to share an instant image with close friends that vanishes after being viewed, was introduced on Meta's photo-sharing application in May as a novel method for sharing timely photos.

The regulator stated that the social media corporation failed to adequately assess the risks associated with the feature before its release, which is a requirement under the UK's Online Safety Act (OSA). A spokesperson for Meta commented that the company takes its regulatory duties under the Online Safety Act seriously, adding that they conducted a risk analysis and informed Ofcom about the feature on several occasions prior to its launch, and that they would cooperate with the investigation.

Ofcom's inquiry intends to determine if Meta breached OSA duties by failing to conduct both a suitable and sufficient illegal content risk assessment and a children's risk assessment before Instants was launched. Under the comprehensive online safety rules in the UK, platforms like Meta are required to perform and update risk assessments to comply with various duties, including those aimed at addressing illegal content. Furthermore, these platforms must demonstrate how they prevent children authorized to use their services from encountering content deemed harmful to them.

This scope of harmful content includes material related to pornography or the promotion of self-harm or suicide, which are classified as "priority primary content," alongside abusive, hateful, or bullying content. Ofcom enforcement director George Lusty asserted that the online safety laws are clear, noting that significant changes to platforms must undergo risk assessment before they are introduced, stating this is a crucial step for tech companies to safeguard their users, comparing it to properly testing a new car.

Instants rolled out to app users in May as an external means for people to share spontaneous images, echoing the original purpose of the app. Images shared via Instants can be seen by users designated as "close friends" by the sender, or by those the sender follows who also follow back the sender. Meta claims the feature incorporates various built-in safeguards, including for younger users utilizing Teen Accounts, such as preventing the forwarding, reshares, or taking of screenshots of Instants. However, disappearing messages and images have previously been identified as posing specific risks for child or teen users on certain applications.

Lusty added that safety by design must be integrated rather than added later, and the current investigation indicates that action will be taken where providers are found not to be complying. Ofcom's decision to initiate this investigation comes as Meta, TikTok, and X are separately seeking judicial review against the regulator's enforcement of the OSA, arguing they should not be required to provide as much information in response to formal requests from Ofcom. Separately, Meta has also contended that Ofcom should not be permitted to impose fines for breaches based on its worldwide annual revenue, and it further maintains that its messaging and image-sharing applications should not be subject to extra requirements under the OSA, such as those concerning paid-for fraud advertisements.