UK watchdog investigates new Instagram feature
Ofcom wants to know whether Meta adequately assessed the risks Instants poses to children in advance.
The UK watchdog Ofcom has opened a formal investigation into Meta over Instagram’s new Instants feature. The question is whether Meta adequately examined the risks to children and of the spread of illegal content before its launch.
Meta added Instants to Instagram in May. Users can share photos that disappear after they have been viewed; the feature is also available through a separate app in some countries. Meta says Instants is intended for spontaneous messages to close friends or people who follow each other.
Ofcom is not investigating whether Instants is illegal in itself. The watchdog is examining whether Meta carried out an appropriate and sufficiently thorough risk assessment in advance, as required by the UK Online Safety Act. That law requires platforms to consider the risks to illegal content and to minors before important features are launched.
According to Ofcom, platforms must update their safety assessments before significantly changing the design or operation of a service. The watchdog says companies must build safety into the design and should not try to solve problems only afterwards.
According to Ofcom, the new feature raises additional questions because disappearing messages can make monitoring and gathering evidence more difficult. That does not mean Instants is automatically unsafe or criminal. The investigation is intended to establish which risks Meta anticipated, what measures the company took and whether those measures are legally sufficient.
In its product announcement, Meta says Instagram’s existing safety features also apply to Instants. These include tools to block, mute, restrict and report. For teenagers, parental controls, time limits and overnight restrictions would continue to apply automatically. Ofcom has yet to assess whether such measures are sufficient in practice.
If Ofcom finds a breach, it can require Meta to make changes or mitigate harm. The watchdog can also impose a fine of up to £18 million or 10 per cent of qualifying worldwide turnover, whichever is higher. The investigation is not yet a definitive finding that Meta has breached the law.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- Ofcom is investigating Meta’s advance risk assessment for Instants.
- Instants uses disappearing messages.
- No definitive breach has yet been established.
Left
Arguments Platforms must show that their design protects children and vulnerable users before new features are rolled out widely. Profit and growth must not take precedence over public safety.
Values Children’s rights, privacy, safety and public responsibility.
Consequences Stricter advance assessments could stop harmful designs earlier, but would slow product development.
Centre
Arguments Prior risk assessment is reasonable, provided regulators act proportionately and do not block innovation before there is evidence of harm.
Values Proportionality, feasibility and independent assessment.
Consequences A clear procedure could both protect users and give companies certainty about the rules.
Right
Arguments Companies must take responsibility for their products, but governments should be cautious about broad powers and heavy fines that could discourage innovation.
Values Entrepreneurship, freedom of choice and limited state power.
Consequences Too much oversight can make services more expensive and less innovative; too little oversight leaves users to bear the risks.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The article’s central claims are based directly on Ofcom’s formal decision and Meta’s product information. The distinction between an investigation and a proven breach has been explicitly retained.
- confirmed Ofcom opened an investigation into Meta on 6 October 2026. — This is stated in Ofcom’s current publication. source
- confirmed The investigation concerns the risk assessment carried out before the launch of Instagram Instants. — Ofcom explicitly refers to the statutory risk assessment for Instants. source
- confirmed Instants makes photos disappear after they have been viewed. — Meta describes this functionality in its product announcement. source
- confirmed Ofcom can impose fines of up to £18 million or 10 per cent of qualifying worldwide turnover. — This maximum penalty is set out in Ofcom’s publication. source
Editor's note
Ofcom has formally opened an investigation, but has not yet established a breach. Meta’s own safety measures are attributed as a company claim.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- RTL Nieuws — „instagram instants”
- FD — „instagram instants”
- Trouw — „instagram instants”