4chan launches legal action against Ofcom in US

Lawyers representing controversial websites 4chan and Kiwi Farms have filed a legal case against the UK Online Safety Act enforcer Ofcom.

Their legal complaint filed in a Washington DC Federal Court seeks a legal ban on the communications regulator enforcing or attempting to enforce the Online Safety Act against them in the US.

"American citizens do not surrender our constitutional rights just because Ofcom sends us an e-mail," Preston Byrne of law firm Byrne & Storm said.

Ofcom told the BBC: "We are aware of this lawsuit. Under the Online Safety Act, any service that has links with the UK now has duties to protect UK users, no matter where in the world it is based."

A service doesn't have to be based in the UK to be subject to the act, and therefore face action from Ofcom.

It could be enough for it to have a significant number of UK users, or to have the UK as a target market.

But 4chan's lawyers want the US court to rule that US business with no presence in the UK are not subject to British legislation.

The also want it to declare that the Online Safety Act is at odds with the US constitution's free speech protections.

Lawyers for online message board 4chan recently told the BBC that Ofcom had provisionally decided to impose a £20,000 fine "with daily penalties thereafter" for failing to comply with two requests for information.

Ofcom alleges 4chan has not complied with the act with respect to the requests for information, but has not confirmed the provisional fine.

It has also stated that it continues to investigate 4chan over whether it is complying with Online Safety Act duties to protect its users from illegal content.

The US legal case is being brought on behalf of 4Chan Community Support LLC, and Lolcow LLC, the corporate entities behind 4chan and online forum, Kiwi Farms.

4chan has often been at the heart of online controversies in its 22 years, including misogynistic campaigns and conspiracy theories.

Users of Kiwi Farms have previously been linked to a number of serious incidents of harassment and trolling.

Both sites operate "fully in compliance" with US laws, the legal complaint says.

According to the filing, Ofcom has written twice to Kiwi Farms, beginning with a March letter telling it to comply with Online Safety Act duties requiring it to "carry out an illegal content risk assessment" and submit the record of that assessment to Ofcom by 17 April 2025.

The legal complaint alleges that Ofcom uses its powers under the Online Safety Act to threaten to impose "ruinous civil penalties and referrals to law enforcement for criminal penalties, including arrest and imprisonment" to American citizens and businesses if its orders are not obeyed.

It seeks to "restrain Ofcom's conduct and its continuing egregious violations of Americans' civil rights, including, without limitation, to the right of freedom of speech".

Ronald Coleman of the Coleman Law Firm, which is also acting for the plaintiffs 4chan and Kiwi Farms, said his clients were defending "the free speech rights of every American."

"We have asked the Court to confirm that Ofcom has no authority to impose or enforce unconstitutional UK laws on American soil."

Among the actions the legal case seeks the court to take are:

A declaration that Ofcom's orders and demands are unenforceable in the US as they are inconsistent with the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments to the US Constitution, relevant US legislation and public policy.

A permanent injunction prohibiting Ofcom from enforcing or attempting to enforce the Online Safety Act against the plaintiffs in the US.