A 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.
[…]
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.”
[…]
Ofcom has previously said the Online Safety Act only requires services to take action to protect users based in the UK.
[…]
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.”
Source: 4chan will refuse to pay daily UK fines, its lawyer tells BBC
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