4chan Refuses To Pay UK Online Safety Act Fines

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: 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-pound 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.

'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. 'American businesses do not surrender their First Amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an email,' law firms Byrne & Storm and Coleman Law 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.'

The statement calls on the Trump administration to intervene and protect American businesses from 'extraterritorial censorship mandates.'

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