4chan does not want to pay fines imposed in the UK

A lawyer for 4chan has announced that the notorious image board will not pay fines imposed by the UK media regulator. He told the BBC, explaining that notices from Ofcom "do not create any legal obligations in the United States". He also called the regulator's investigation part of an "illegal harassment campaign" against US tech companies. According to the lawyer, Ofcom has imposed a provisional fine of 20,000 pounds (around 23,000 euros) on 4chan, with daily fines to be imposed for non-compliance.

Investigation following complaints

The background to the dispute is an investigation launched by the Office of Communications in June. It was prompted by complaints about alleged illegal activities. Ofcom wanted to find out how 4chan deals with illegal content and whether the service has implemented "appropriate security measures" to protect users in the UK from illegal content and activities. According to the BBC, the authority then informed 4chan in August that the platform had not responded to two requests for information. As a result, the fine has now apparently been imposed.

4chan has been notorious for its controversial content for years. Posts are made anonymously by default, copyrights are ignored and posts with politically extreme and anti-Semitic content are tolerated. 4chan is the source of many memes, but also the starting point for numerous problematic internet phenomena – such as the conspiracy narrative surrounding "QAnon". On the short messaging service X, the service's law firm has now declared that US companies do not give up their rights guaranteed by the US Constitution simply because a "foreign bureaucrat sends them an email". They will fight any attempts to punish 4chan in a US federal court.

(mho)