TL;DR: OFCOM fines 4Chan, the notorious image-based bulletin board, £20,000 for non-compliance with the Online Safety Act – they don’t care.
Ofcom has issued a £20,000 provisional penalty against 4chan under the Online Safety Act, stating that the platform failed to meet several statutory duties. The move signals how Ofcom intends to use its new powers, although practical enforcement against an overseas service remains uncertain.Alleged breaches
- Failure to respond to a statutory information request
- Failure to complete and maintain a suitable illegal content risk assessment
- Non-compliance with safety duties concerning illegal content
Ofcom fines 4chan, their legal response
Lawyers representing 4chan say the notice is unenforceable. Their statement highlights that 4chan is incorporated in Delaware and has no offices, staff or assets in the United Kingdom. 4chan’s Lawyer response in full:
BYRNE & STORM, P.C.
ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW
Re: Statement Regarding Ofcom’s Reported Provisional Notice – 4chan Community Support LLC
Byrne & Storm, P.C. (@ByrneStorm) and Coleman Law, P.C. (@RonColeman) represent 4chan Community Support LLC (“4chan”).
According to press reports, the U.K. Office of Communications (“Ofcom”) has issued a provisional notice under the Online Safety Act alleging a contravention by 4chan and indicating an intention to impose a penalty of £20,000, plus daily penalties thereafter.
4chan is a United States company, incorporated in Delaware, with no establishment, assets, or operations in the United Kingdom. Any attempt to impose or enforce a penalty against 4chan will be resisted in U.S. federal court.
American businesses do not surrender their First Amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an e-mail. Under settled principles of U.S. law, American courts will not enforce foreign penal fines or censorship codes.
If necessary, we will seek appropriate relief in U.S. federal court to confirm these principles.
United States federal authorities have been briefed on this matter.
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was reportedly warned by the White House to cease targeting Americans with U.K. censorship codes (according to reporting in the Telegraph on July 30th).
Despite these warnings, Ofcom continues its illegal campaign of harassment against American technology firms. A political solution to this matter is urgently required and that solution must come from the highest levels of American government.
We call on the Trump Administration to invoke all diplomatic and legal levers available to the United States to protect American companies from extraterritorial censorship mandates.
Our client reserves all rights.
They indicate any attempt to impose or enforce the penalty will be resisted in United States federal court, noting that American courts do not enforce foreign penal fines or censorship codes.
The jurisdiction problem
This clash was predictable. As outlined in my earlier analysis, the Online Safety Act assumes UK rules can be applied to global platforms. That assumption collides with jurisdictional limits once a service has no UK nexus such as assets, staff or operations. Further reading: The Online Safety Act UK and how we’ve got it so wrong.What happens next
- Compliance looks unlikely: Without a UK presence, 4chan has little incentive to engage.
- Potential diplomatic noise: The lawyers say US authorities have been briefed, so political pushback is possible.
Bottom line as OFCOM fines 4chan
The penalty makes headlines yet may have limited effect in practice. Ofcom can issue notices, but collecting from a platform with no UK footprint is another matter. This episode underlines a core weakness in the regime when applied beyond UK borders.Too early to say: Told you so?
