Update: Meta Challenges UK Media Regulator Over Online Safety Fee, Fine Calculations

12:11 PM EDT, 10/13/2026 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with Meta's response in the second and last paragraphs.) Meta Platforms (META) challenged UK media regulator Ofcom in London's High Court on its calculation of fees and potential fines under the country's Online Safety Act, the regulator said Tuesday in a document outlining its response to the complaint. "We and others in the tech industry believe its decisions on the methodology to calculate fees and potential fines are disproportionate," a spokesperson for Meta told MT Newswires. Meta argued that Ofcom used the concept of qualifying worldwide revenue, as defined in the law, to adopt "the broadest possible approach to the definition" when calculating fees and penalties, according to the document. Ofcom rejected the claim, saying it had "struck a careful balance" and would robustly defend its position. The law allows Ofcom to impose fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, or 18 million pounds ($23.9 million), whichever is greater, and to recover the costs of running its program, Reuters reported. "We believe fees and penalties should be based on the services being regulated in the countries they're being regulated in," a Meta spokesperson said. Price: 760.85, Change: +17.89, Percent Change: +2.41