{"id":53595,"date":"2026-10-21T14:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T18:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=53595"},"modified":"2026-10-21T14:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T18:33:51","slug":"ofcom-concedes-defeat-in-4chan-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/21\/ofcom-concedes-defeat-in-4chan-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Ofcom Concedes Defeat in 4chan Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guido Fawkes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Ofcom boss Dame Melanie Dawes has admitted today that tech firms have paid just two of the eleven fines handed out under the Online Safety Act since March last year. Giving evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, she conceded nine remain unpaid, four of the offending sites have simply geo-blocked the UK, and three are still up and running with nothing changed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Via Preston Byrne<\/a> (Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

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American courts have, by now, provided their preliminary view on the likelihood of Ofcom’s enforcement powers being successful in U.S. courts – the obiter dicta<\/em> in 4chan v. Ofcom<\/em><\/a>, the opinion in the case we filed against Ofcom in the federal District Court for the District of Columbia a little over a year ago.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Ofcom can’t enforce the Online Safety Act in America. Ofcom knows it, Ofcom has known it for a long time, and now, Ofcom has, finally, admitted it.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

The GRANITE Act<\/a>, a foreign censorship shield now before both the House and Senate (H.R. 10174<\/a> \/ S. 5478<\/a>), is one proposed legal response America could adopt. The HOMEFRONT Act, H.R. 10309<\/a>, is another. Either of GRANITE or HOMEFRONT would strip sovereign immunity from foreign censors and let Americans targeted by their orders drag those agencies into federal court, where they could be held accountable for their actions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n