Investigation into Meta’s compliance with statutory requests for information

Today we have opened an investigation into Meta Platforms Inc. (“Meta”). The investigation concerns Meta’s compliance with requirements imposed under information request notices (the “Notices”) issued under section 135 of the Communications Act 2003 (the ‘Act’).

On 31 July 2024 and 19 June 2025, Meta was issued formal Notices under section 135 of the Act requiring the provision of information to inform Ofcom’s market monitoring of the retail business messaging market and subsequent Wholesale A2P SMS Termination Market Review. Meta was issued with the Notices as it is a provider of alternative business messaging services (i.e WhatsApp for Business). The Notices requested a range of data concerning Meta’s WhatsApp Business.

Investigation

The information gathered through statutory information requests is a key part of Ofcom’s work and informs how it carries out its statutory functions as a regulator. It is therefore crucial that stakeholders provide accurate and complete information in a timely fashion. Where Ofcom has reasonable grounds for believing that a contravention of a requirement imposed under section 135 of the Act has occurred or is occurring, Ofcom may take enforcement action under section 138 of the Act.

The available evidence suggests that Meta may not have complied with certain requirements imposed under section 135 in that some of the information provided by Meta in response to the Notices may not have been complete and accurate. Ofcom’s investigation will examine whether Meta has failed to comply with the statutory requirements imposed by the Notices.

Ofcom will provide updates on this page as we progress this investigation.