Meta challenges Ofcom fee calculations in Online Safety Act dispute

Meta's court fight over Ofcom's online safety fees has turned into a test of whether Britain can fund oversight of global platforms from worldwide revenue, not just money earned in the UK. The dispute, heard in London’s High Court on Thursday, May 7, 2026, could shape how the Online Safety Act 2023 is enforced for Meta and every other large service brought into the regime.

Meta said Ofcom’s calculations were “disproportionate” and launched a judicial review over the regulator’s use of qualifying worldwide revenue, or QWR, to set both fees and potential penalties. Ofcom said it would defend its position. The regulator’s argument is that the law requires online safety fees and fines to be based on QWR, while Meta says the charge should be tied to the services being regulated in the countries where they are regulated.

That legal split matters far beyond one invoice. Under the Online Safety Act 2023, Ofcom’s operating costs for the online safety regime are meant to be recovered from industry through fees. Ofcom’s guidance defines QWR as revenue arising in connection with the relevant regulated service anywhere in the world, and its final policy statement uses the same definition when calculating maximum penalties. If the High Court sides with Meta, the judgment could force Ofcom to rethink a funding model built to cover the cost of policing harmful content across major platforms with global reach.

The timing is already set. Ofcom said it intends to issue invoices for the fees in the third quarter of 2026, most likely in September. If Meta wins, the regulator could be forced to refund fees already collected. The first charging year began on April 1, 2026, and the notification window for the initial 2026/27 charging year closed on April 11.

The dispute also sits on top of a broader policy choice already made by ministers. Ofcom advised that any threshold between £200 million and £500 million would be appropriate, and recommended £250 million as the fee-liability threshold. The government adopted that figure. For Ofcom, the issue is whether the Online Safety Act can legally spread the cost of enforcement across the global revenue of large providers. For Meta, the case is about resisting what it sees as an oversized bill. For the wider sector, the ruling could decide who pays to police online harms, and whether the UK’s ability to enforce its safety rules is anchored in national revenue or in the scale of the platforms themselves.