News: 0181050922

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

4Chan Mocks $700K Fine For UK Online Safety Breaches

(Thursday March 19, 2026 @06:00PM (BeauHD) from the on-brand dept.)


The UK regulator Ofcom fined 4chan nearly $700,000 (520,000 pounds) for failing to implement age checks and address illegal content risks under the Online Safety Act, but the platform [1]mocked the penalty and signaled it won't pay . A lawyer representing the company responded with an [2]AI-generated cartoon image of a hamster, writing in a follow-up [3]post on X: "In the only country in which 4chan operates, the United States, it is breaking no law and indeed its conduct is expressly protected by the First Amendment." The BBC reports:

> The fines also include 50,000 pounds for failing to assess the risk of illegal material being published and a further 20,000 pounds for failing to set out how it protects users from criminal content. 4Chan has refused to pay all previous fines from Ofcom.

"Companies -- wherever they're based -- are not allowed to sell unsafe toys to children in the UK. And society has long protected youngsters from things like alcohol, smoking and gambling. The digital world should be no different," said Ofcom's Suzanne Cater. "The UK is setting new standards for online safety. Age checks and risk assessments are cornerstones of our laws, and we'll take robust enforcement action against firms that fall short."



[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c624330lg1ko

[2] https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/4b34/live/92938210-2381-11f1-b5b5-fbc403579701.jpg

[3] https://x.com/prestonjbyrne/status/2034565005257879977



4Chan toy store? (Score:2)

by ZipK ( 1051658 )

> Companies -- wherever they're based -- are not allowed to sell unsafe toys to children in the UK.

Wait - 4chan is now a toy store?

Re: (Score:2)

by PPH ( 736903 )

Wait - 4chan sells stuff?

Re: (Score:2)

by Zero__Kelvin ( 151819 )

> "Companies -- wherever they're based -- are not allowed to sell unsafe toys to children in the UK. And society has long protected youngsters from things like alcohol, smoking and gambling. The digital world should be no different," said Ofcom's Suzanne Cater. "The UK is setting new standards for online safety. Age checks and risk assessments are cornerstones of our laws, and we'll take robust enforcement action against firms that fall short."

You have been playing the propaganda game too long. I don't have

Checkem (Score:1)

by epicbread ( 4929749 )

I guess everypony in the UK responsible for issuing the fines, didn't check their jurisdiction.

Cringeworthy (Score:1)

by nlc ( 10289693 )

Ofcom really are a national embarrassment. Teach parents how to use the highly effective tools at their disposal to protect their children. Instead of ineffectively trying to project international jurisdiction and egregiously violating the rights of adults under the ECHR. The opportunity to remove this awful government cannot come soon enough.

It's never been about age, it's about I.D. (Score:4, Informative)

by lusid1 ( 759898 )

Age checks are just the first step off a very slippery slope. It's never been about age, the end game is about ID. Resist them while you still can. Save those uncontaminated OS installers, while you can.

Re: (Score:1)

by ElderOfPsion ( 10042134 )

[1]https://yourlogicalfallacyis.c... [yourlogicalfallacyis.com]

[1] https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/slippery-slope

*facepalm* (Score:4, Insightful)

by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

This was always going to end this way. Sorry Ofcom but 4chan is 100% in the right here. Your authority extends only to requesting it be blocked in your country. Nothing more.

This isn't a multinational company and it is not in any way subject to any laws other than US law.

Re:*facepalm* (Score:5, Insightful)

by AleRunner ( 4556245 )

The failure is the point. They are trying to work up to getting VPNs blocked. I suspect they will have shrunk our economy by 60% before we manage to stop them. I only hope that, at that point, I will be able to get a legalized lynch mob up for them. The chances are reasonably good.

New standards (Score:2)

by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 )

> "The UK is setting new standards for online safety.

They say that like all standards are good.

Tell you what ... (Score:1)

by Anonymous Coward

> And society has long protected youngsters from things like alcohol, smoking and gambling.

You take care of Prince Andrew. We'll deal with HiroMoot.

::pinkyfinger:: one MILLION wattovolts (Score:1)

by invisiblefireball ( 10371234 )

inb4 they fire up StoreChan, which only sells electric euthanasia dildos

Re: (Score:1)

by invisiblefireball ( 10371234 )

FOR KIDS

new guy cross-connected phone lines with ac power bus.