Online messaging site 4chan refuses to pay online safety fines

Message board 4chan is refusing to pay fines issued by Ofcom for breaching online safety duties. 

Earlier this year, the communications watchdog launched an investigation into the website over concerns it was hosting potential illegal content. And, in June, Ofcom issued 4chan with a “provisional notice of contravention” - a formal warning by a regulatory body – for failing to comply with two information requests. 

Under the Online Safety Act (OSA), online platforms must have systems in place to detect and take down illegal and harmful content to protect UK users. 

In a statement posted on X, Preston Byrne, managing partner of law firm Byrne & Storm, said Ofcom had allegedly provisionally imposed a £20,000 fine on the online site, “plus daily penalties thereafter” until it complies with the information requests. 

Byrne added that any attempt “to impose or enforce” the penalty would go against First Amendment rights and be “resisted in US federal court”. 

It comes amid ongoing division over the effectiveness of the OSA. Campaigners claim the legislation doesn’t go far enough while critics argue it weakens freedom of speech. 

The statement said: “American businesses do not surrender their First Amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an e-mail. Under settled principles of US law, American courts will not enforce foreign penal fines or censorship codes.” 

4chan allows users to post texts and images anonymously, which can often lead to the proliferation of dangerous material. It is notorious for its extreme right content and has been linked to harassment campaigns as well as faced accusations for encouraging hate speech. 

The statement added the US federal authorities had been “briefed” on the matter, adding that the Ofcom investigation was part of an “illegal campaign of harassment against American technology firms”. 

It said a political solution "is urgently required” and called on the Trump administration to “invoke all diplomatic and legal levers available” to protect US-based firms from “extraterritorial censorship mandates”. 

The announcement comes after Ciaran Martin warned the OSA was likely to fail due to “US pushback”. 

Speaking to Holyrood, the former chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, said: “I'd be cautious about moving forward – and some of this is at Ofcom’s discretion but quite a lot of it is actually later legislation from parliament. The country should not get itself known primarily in tech for regulation. 

“We do need to innovate securely. You can't just legislate your way to security and safety online. There has to be a whole sort of business culture about it… In tech, there's no such thing as a regulatory superpower, and we’re about to find that out.” 

Ofcom declined to comment as it is an ongoing investigation.