Ofcom Investigates Meta Over Instagram Instants in First Online Safety Act Probe

Britain's communications regulator has opened its first formal investigation into Meta under the Online Safety Act, questioning whether the tech giant properly assessed the risks of its Instagram Instants feature before launching it in May. The probe, announced on October 6, is a landmark moment for the UK's online safety regime — the first time Ofcom has turned its toughest new powers on the world's biggest social media company.

Instants allows Instagram users to share photos and videos that disappear after being viewed. Ofcom's investigation will establish whether Meta carried out a "suitable and sufficient" assessment of the risks of illegal content on the feature — and of the risks posed to children — before it went live.

What the law requires

The Online Safety Act sets clear obligations for social media platforms, search engines and adult content providers: tackle illegal content and protect children's safety. Companies must conduct risk assessments before making significant changes to a platform's design or operation. Ofcom's enforcement director, George Lusty, put the principle bluntly: "Our online safety laws are clear — significant changes to platforms must be risk assessed before they're launched." Safety by design, he said, "must be built in, not bolted on" — comparing an untested launch to putting an untested car on the road.

Meta's defence

Meta says it takes its regulatory obligations seriously. A spokesperson said the company "conducted a risk analysis and briefed Ofcom about this feature on a number of occasions before launching it". The company points to built-in protections: Instants blocks screenshots, reshares and forwarding, has no public feed, and applies its Teen Account protections automatically for under-18s. Meta says it will cooperate fully with the investigation.

Why campaigners are worried

Child-safety campaigners are unconvinced. The Molly Rose Foundation — set up in memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who died in 2017 after viewing harmful content online — said it was concerned that harmful and illegal content could be shared through Instants and then vanish, making it harder to moderate or remove and enabling it to be "sent maliciously without fear of repercussions".

The feature has had a bumpy launch in other ways: users reported that Instants photos are sent immediately on capture, with some accidentally sharing images they only intended to test. Meta also launched a standalone Instants app alongside the in-DM feature.

What Ofcom can do

Opening an investigation does not mean Ofcom has concluded Meta broke the law. But the stakes are enormous: if it finds compliance failures, Ofcom can order remedial action and impose fines of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue — whichever is greater. For Meta, 10% of revenue would run into billions.

The regulator has been building its enforcement record. Since the Act's duties took effect, Ofcom has issued more than £7 million in fines against 11 providers, including £520,000 against 4chan over child protection failures. It is separately investigating whether Meta failed to comply with an information request concerning WhatsApp. The Instants probe is the biggest test yet of whether Britain's online safety regime has teeth.

Sources

• NDTV: UK Regulator Probes Meta's Instagram Instants, first Under Online Safety Act
• CNA: UK watchdog opens first Online Safety Act probe into Meta
• Digital Watch Observatory: Ofcom probes Meta over pre-launch safety checks on Instagram Instants
• AJ Bell: Ofcom opens first investigation into Meta under Online Safety Act

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) — Santeri Viinamäki (Instagram app on smartphone).