伦敦 - 英国通信监管机构于10月6日表示，已就Meta平台是否违反英国在线安全法律展开调查，指其在5月份推出Instagram Instants功能时未能妥善评估该功能带来的风险。
LONDON - Britain’s communications regulator said on Oct 6 it has opened an investigation into whether Meta Platforms breached British online safety laws by failing to properly assess risks posed by its Instagram Instants feature before launching it in May.
Instants允许用户在社交媒体平台Instagram上分享的内容在被查看后自动消失。
Instants allows content shared by users in social media platform Instagram to disappear after being viewed.
Ofcom表示，其正式调查将确定Meta是否在推出前对该功能中的非法内容风险以及可能对儿童带来的风险进行了“适当且充分”的评估。
Ofcom said its formal investigation would establish if Meta carried out a “suitable and sufficient” assessments into the risk of illegal content in the feature or any possible risks posed to children before launch.
Ofcom执行总监乔治·拉斯蒂表示：“我们的在线安全法律规定明确——对平台的重大变更必须在推出前进行风险评估。”他还表示，安全设计必须内置而非事后添加。
George Lusty, director of enforcement at Ofcom, said: “Our online safety laws are clear – significant changes to platforms must be risk assessed before they’re launched.”He said safety by design had to be built in and not bolted on.
“今天的调查表明，如果我们担心服务提供商未能遵守规定，我们将采取行动，”他补充道。Meta表示，它认真对待在线安全法案下的监管义务。
“Today’s investigation shows we’ll take action where we have concerns that providers are failing to comply,” he added. Meta said it took its regulatory obligations under the Online Safety Act seriously.
发言人表示：“我们进行了风险分析，并在多次推出前向Ofcom介绍了这一功能。”
“We conducted a risk analysis and briefed Ofcom about this feature on a number of occasions before launching it,” a spokesperson said.
“Instants具有内置保护措施，包括屏蔽截屏、转发和转发功能，没有公共动态 feeds，以及自动应用Teen Account保护措施。”该发言人还表示：“我们当然会在此次调查中与Ofcom合作。”
“Instants has in-built protections, including blocking screenshots, reshares and forwarding, no public feed, and Teen Account protections on automatically.”“We will of course co-operate with Ofcom during this investigation,” it added.
Meta已就Ofcom在实施在线安全法案方面提出法律挑战，包括其要求提供的信息范围和规模，以及收取的费用水平。
Meta has launched legal challenges against Ofcom over its implementation of the Online Safety Act, including the scale and the scope of the information it has to provide to the regulator, and the level of fees it charges.