UK telecoms regulator Ofcom is facing a US lawsuit that accuses it of using coercive threats to enforce the Online Safety Act and violating free speech rights.
Two controversial websites, 4chan and Kiwi Farms, have taken Ofcom to a US court, alleging the UK regulator is attempting an illegal overreach by acting as a de facto global censor. The complaint, filed on 27 August 2025, contends that Ofcom is seeking to impose UK rules on services hosted in the United States, undermining constitutional protections.
Both platforms emphasize their American status — 4chan is a Delaware company and Kiwi Farms is based in West Virginia — and state they have no offices, staff, or equipment outside the US. They argue the UK regulator has no authority to dictate how they operate on American soil.
Transatlantic tussle over UK’s free speech clampdown
The case centers on whether the Online Safety Act can lawfully regulate websites located in other countries. Critics in the UK have argued the Act threatens free speech and may even increase certain risks, but this lawsuit focuses on constitutional conflicts that arise when a foreign regulator tries to govern US-based services.
Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom has broad authority to require platforms accessible to UK users to remove or moderate content. The plaintiffs argue those powers clash directly with American legal protections, particularly the First Amendment’s guarantee of free expression.
The complaint alleges the Act’s provisions could force the sites to remove content that is lawful in the US. It highlights the Act’s “false communications” offence and claims it functions as a backdoor for criminalising defamation—an approach the plaintiffs say is fundamentally inconsistent with longstanding American principles of free speech.
The plaintiffs also challenge the law’s age-verification requirements, arguing they would undermine anonymous speech, which the platforms say is a protected right for both users and the services that host them.
Additionally, the lawsuit asserts Ofcom’s demands ignore the protections of Section 230 of US law, which shields platforms from liability for user-generated content. The complaint contends Ofcom improperly treats the sites as the “publisher or speaker” of user posts, contravening core US legal doctrine.
‘Coercive threats’ from Ofcom
Court filings outline what the companies describe as a pattern of coercive actions by Ofcom. According to the complaint, 4chan received a “legally binding information notice” on 14 April 2025 that threatened fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global turnover and warned of possible arrest and imprisonment of up to two years for noncompliance.
The dispute escalated, the filings say, when Ofcom issued a “Provisional Decision” on 12 August 2025 proposing a £20,000 fine and daily penalties for perceived failures to comply with the regulator’s demands to remove content and implement further moderation measures.
Kiwi Farms reports a similar sequence: an “Advisory Letter” dated 26 March 2025 that declared the new duties applied regardless of where a platform or business is based. Initially, Kiwi Farms responded like many global sites by blocking UK traffic. After that block briefly went offline for maintenance, Ofcom allegedly sent another demand. The lawsuit stresses none of these demands were served through formal international legal channels such as the US–UK Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.
Making an example of smaller platforms
The complaint frames Ofcom’s actions as a political strategy aimed at smaller, financially vulnerable platforms. According to the plaintiffs, targeting well-known but less-resourced sites is intended to intimidate larger US tech companies into complying with UK rules, even if doing so would require them to abandon constitutional protections.
4chan and Kiwi Farms are asking a US court to declare Ofcom’s orders unenforceable within the United States and to issue an injunction preventing the UK regulator from attempting to enforce the Online Safety Act against them in the future.
Whatever the court decides, this case represents a significant clash over who can set the rules for the global internet. The UK’s approach to online safety has already drawn international attention, and the lawsuit underscores a growing tension between national regulations and cross-border digital rights.
See also: Online Safety Act sparks rush to risky free VPN services
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