https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq68j5g2nr1oA lawyer representing the online message board 4chan says it won't pay a proposed fine by the UK's media regulator as it enforces the Online Safety Act.According to Preston Byrne, managing partner of law firm Byrne & Storm, Ofcom has provisionally decided to impose a £20,000 fine "with daily penalties thereafter" for as long as the site fails to comply with its request."Ofcom's notices create no legal obligations in the United States," he told the BBC, adding he believed the regulator's investigation was part of an "illegal campaign of harassment" against US tech firms.Ofcom has declined to comment while its investigation continues."4chan has broken no laws in the United States - my client will not pay any penalty," Mr Byrne said.Ofcom began investigating 4chan over whether it was complying with its obligations under the UK's Online Safety Act.Then in August, it said it had issued 4chan with "a provisional notice of contravention" for failing to comply with two requests for information.Ofcom said its investigation would examine whether the message board was complying with the act, including requirements to protect its users from illegal content.4chan has often been at the heart of online controversies in its 22 years, including misogynistic campaigns and conspiracy theories.Users are anonymous, which can often lead to extreme content being posted.
'First Amendment rights'In a statement posted on X, law firms Byrne & Storm and Coleman Law said 4chan was a US company incorporated in the US, and therefore protected against the UK law."American businesses do not surrender their First Amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an email," they wrote."Under settled principles of US law, American courts will not enforce foreign penal fines or censorship codes."If necessary, we will seek appropriate relief in US federal court to confirm these principles."They said authorities in the US had been "briefed" on their response to Ofcom's investigation.The statement concludes by calling on the Trump administration to invoke all diplomatic and legal levers to protect American businesses from "extraterritorial censorship mandates".Ofcom has previously said the Online Safety Act only requires services to take action to protect users based in the UK.UK backs downSome American politicians - particularly the Trump administration, its allies and officials - have pushed back against what they regard as overreach in the regulation of US tech firms by the UK and EU.A perceived impact of the Online Safety Act on free speech has been a particular concern, but other laws have also been the source of disagreement.On 19 August, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the UK had withdrawn its controversial demand for a "backdoor" in an Apple data protection system - saying she worked with the President and Vice President to get the UK to abandon its plan.Two days later, US Federal Trade Commission chairman Andrew Ferguson warned big tech firms they could be violating US law if they weakened privacy and data security requirements by complying with international laws such as the Online Safety Act.
"Foreign governments seeking to limit free expression or weaken data security in the United States might count on the fact that companies have an incentive to simplify their operations and legal compliance measures by applying uniform policies across jurisdictions," he said.If 4chan does successfully fight the fine in the US courts, Ofcom may have other options."Enforcing against an offshore provider is tricky," Emma Drake, partner of online safety and privacy at law firm Bird and Bird, told the BBC."Ofcom can instead ask a court to order other services to disrupt a provider's UK business, such as requiring a service's removal from search results or blocking of UK payments."If Ofcom doesn't think this will be enough to prevent significant harm, it can even ask that ISPs be ordered to block UK access."
>>1428546Based, but we're getting similar laws here soon.
>>1428546morehttps://metro.co.uk/2025/08/22/4chan-controversial-online-message-board-clashing-ofcom-23973491/The UK’s Online Safety Act has ushered in a new age of internet regulation, recently grabbing headlines for forcing adult sites to verify users’ ages.The laws have also prompted a number of sites not widely associated with explicit content such as messaging board Reddit to require age checks for ‘certain mature content’.Not all are complying with this new regime, though, sparking clashes with regulator Ofcom which could lead to being blocked by British internet providers.US-based messaging board 4chan – which could be described as Reddit’s older, rebellious cousin – is flat-out refusing to bend to what its lawyers have called ‘foreign censorship codes’.Ofcom has slapped it with a £20,000 fine with ‘daily penalties thereafter’ for failing to respond to a request for information.The sanctions could get worse: up to £18 million or 10% of revenue (whichever is greater).
4chan is also under investigation for failing to comply with ‘safety duties about illegal content’ or show any evidence it has risk assessments to minimise such content.This began with several complaints about potential illegal content on the site.4chan’s history of controversyFounded in 2003, 4chan’s rules state users cannot post anything that breaks ‘local or United States law’ and that under-18s must not access it.But experts have said there is little evidence that moderators proactively remove much besides child sex abuse material.The rules also state a variety of extreme content is permitted on specific boards, including controversial genres of anime or manga that feature sexually explicit depictions of underage characters.This ‘anything goes’ culture, coupled with user anonymity, has garnered 4chan a reputation for being rife with disturbing, extreme content.It has also spawned or amplified a number of conspiracy theories, controversial collective actions, hoaxes and threats of violence.Uncut video of the 2019 mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, was widely shared on the site.
The white supremacist behind the atrocity, Brenton Tarrant, had published a six-page manifesto on 4chan and spent the prior four years posting about the need to ‘attack people of colour’ on the site.Details of plans for the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol building by Trump supporters in 2021 were also shared on 4chan.The previous year’s elections marked the first time that elements of the QAnon conspiracist movement became major talking points among right-wing voters typically seen as ‘mainstream’.The movement promotes unsubstantiated claims that Trump was fighting a secret child sex trafficking ring run by celebrities and US government officials.Its earliest appearance online has been identified a series of posts by a 4chan user who claimed to have a high level of US government security clearance.Those posts gained momentum partly by being linked to a notorious conspiracy theory the year before, known as Pizzagate.4chan was a hotbed for Pizzagate posts, which claimed a Washington, DC pizzeria was hosting a child sex trafficking ring in a basement for elite clients including Democratic politicians.A man from North Carolina who believed the claims drove to the restaurant with an assault rifle, pointed it at an employee and fired several harmless shots in an effort to get staff to reveal its ‘secret basement’ – which did not exist.4chan was a major breeding ground for the Gamergate controversy, in which false allegations against a female game developer by her ex-boyfriend were widely shared.It prompted an avalanche of online harassment against her and a number of other female industry figures, some of whom were doxxed – meaning personal details such as phone numbers or addresses are shared online.Many ordinary people outside the limelight also claim to have fallen victim to doxxing, ‘revenge porn’ and other forms of abuse through 4chan.
The website’s rules have listed doxxing as a banned activity for years, but first-hand accounts still regularly appear across social media describing private photos and contact details being shared on the site.The forum has courted controversy for nearly all its existence, first making headlines in 2006 as the launchpad for a number of actions by hacking group Anonymous.It initially coordinated pranks and stunts aimed at trolling other sites and users before taking on a political and social activism slant that fluctuated between progressive and anarchistic.This included an attack on Church of Scientology in which 4chan users coordinated to overwhelm its websites.Anonymous later launched attacks on US government departments, and various companies including PayPal perceived to have hindered the WikiLeaks movement.It also supported movements during the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street protests and attacked websites hosting child pornography.But from 2008 Anonymous became less and less tied to 4chan, using other chat rooms and messaging services.By 2016 its members were actively criticising QAnon and other right-wing movements which owed more to the platform.To this day, large portions of the site have been focused on innocuous topics such as nature, DIY and music.Many sub-forums are largely free of abusive posts, although terminology associated with incel culture and far-right political movements often appear in unrelated topics.
But extreme content including explicit images, racism and the promotion of violence always remain just a few clicks away with only a simple self-certification check where a user can declare they are 18 or over.Critics of the Online Safety Act warn it could severely constrict free speech by forcing platforms to broadly stamp out all content deemed to be ‘extreme’ rather than illegal content alone.Privacy concerns have also been raised as companies are required to collect much more private information from users in order to share it with British regulators.The US Federal Trade Commission has warned that US companies could be breaking American data security laws if they comply with certain requirements from foreign internet regulations.In a statement posted on X about Ofcom’s investigation, 4chan’s lawyers said the company is protected against UK law as a business incorporated in the US.They wrote: ‘American businesses do not surrender their First Amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an email.‘Under settled principles of US law, American courts will not enforce foreign penal fines or censorship codes.‘If necessary, we will seek appropriate relief in US federal court to confirm these principles.’They called on the Trump administration to do everything it can to protect US-based websites from ‘extraterritorial censorship mandates’.
UK has had zero authority in the US since 1776.
>>1428593>But extreme content including explicit images, racism and the promotion of violence always remain just a few clicks awayOi m8 ya got a loicense fer dat "kys" post?
Why would the US shut down a successful CIA psyop?
>>1428617Does the CIA not have anything better to do than worry about a dying Mongolian cartoon forum?
>no loicense to shitpost How dumb is the UK government gonna look after fining one jillion pounds.
>>1428558Hopefully the site is blocked on the UK. Then just get rid of Canada and India and this will be over if the most civilized discussion forums on the net
Note the way these articles frame everything. They try to convince their audience 4chan is nothing but cp and gore where anons plan nightly rape parties, and that their just trying to do tge right thing. Also here's how we can still win. Typical left wing trash.
>>1428667Block pozztralia. Instant improvement
Shouldn't they go investigate roblox it's honestly better than going for us they have Kids getting (Gr) over there and we should do something about that if we can but first we need to deal with this thing going on
>>1428546this 4chan dude is pretty cool ofcom can suck my dick
Bump above the repost.
>>1428546its not that they wont pay.. its just that they already pay them the salary of a janny.. what more could they possibly want?
>>1428834Hotpockets?
>>1428843not that gaffe again
>>1428671>left wing trash.It's just as right as it is left. This is European elites trying to control their population from building sentiments against the single largest cost of living crisis in 100 years
>>1428592Why do they talk of 4chan as a single entity when there's dozens of boards with different cultures and subjects?
>>1428854It makes no difference to normies who hate the content on the most popular boards.
>>1428845>it thinks a offcom and the UK government are right wing.looooooool
>>1428546Very reminiscent of when The Pirate Bay refused to comply with the US government since they were based in Sweden
>>1428558I hope you are wrong, anon. But i fear youre correct. >>1428602Holy BASED
>>1428870i got warned by 4chan for no reason.
>>1428863They are. You just think they aren't because you're even more right wing.
>>1428875You know what you did.
>>1428939Pffffft. Sure buddy.
>>1428991Yes, and I'm not your buddy, guy.
>>1428618The CIA wants to turn us into cat girls.
>>1428994Nobody is talking about how big tech is doing this because Fox News knew that all of big tech (who are mostly left leaning or right wing pro censorship/displaying republican in name only behavior in a maga republican suit)was on the files. Fox News also confirmed trump is not on the list. This censorship we are seeing is because big tech is scared of us, because they secretly know the anti censorship left and the anti censorship right both know that just because Donald trump took a picture with Epstein doesn’t mean he was on the island but the democrats are complaining and weaponizing big tech, thinking they can’t have a dent put in them.Big tech is seething and coping and trying to control us because they want America to believe trump is on the list, and are using the children as a shield.
>>1429091>Fox News also confirmed trump is not on the list.That's like McDonalds confirming hamburgers don't kill you. (they do)
>>1429094Tight, but that’s not the argument.Trump, no matter what anyone says only took a picture with Epstein and didn’t go to his island, whereas everyone in big tech DID. And now that big tech found out, they are doing everything in their power to avoid releasing the list and censoring all of us.
Your gay kid is not my fucking problem Karen
>>1429128>whereas everyone in big tech DIDSounds like Trump should release the list so we can confirm that.
>>1428993And I bet you belive Chicago is MAGACountry?
>>1429145>still mad about Jussie in 2025Holy buckbroke
>>1429146Not mad, just pointing out the lefts historical penchant for gullibility. But you knew that, which us why you desperately floundered to try and turn my deflect from my point. It's okay; keep embarrassing yourself.
>>1429274Imagine being this far right.
>>1429278Good job! Now make another post without an argument or a point!
>>1429287>the guy being mocked thinks he's arguing with the strawmen againWow that never happens on /news/
>>1429302I love how you say this without any sense of irony. Good job!
>>1429311It's because it isn't ironic. That's literally what's happening (to you).
>>1428869What came out of it?
>>1428546UK is an insignificant island that thinks of itself as of the ruler of the world
>>1429346TBP has an infamous reputation much like 4chan.. In 2012 when recording labels obtained their first UK site blocking injunction on copyright grounds- they could’ve picked any no-name MP3 download site and walked away with an easy win, but they chose TPB because it was the perfect candidate, the most uncooperative pirate site in the worldThere was little chance of TBP showing up to london’s high court- and as a matter of a fact, TBP wasn’t represented in any way in the hearing. Its easy to win cases when there are no chances of the defendant appearing.The OSA bill and 4chan situation feels very similar to what happened to TPB..If silver bullets for a win in the TPB case were TPB’s inability to mount defences & the UK avoiding controversy due to TBP’s clear violation of newly established laws we’re a hairline short of a catastrophe
Britbongistan speedrunning the Great Chinese Firewall wasn't on my 2020's bingo card. What made that Pedo Island go full retard so fast? It's like there have been no checks on loonies in power since the Brexit vote.
