US Court Dismisses 4chan Case Against Ofcom Over UK Online Safety Rules
A U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C., has dismissed a lawsuit brought by internet forums 4chan and Kiwi Farms against Britain’s media regulator Ofcom, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction to decide the dispute, according to a court ruling on Wednesday.
The decision directs the companies toward British courts to challenge Ofcom’s enforcement of the UK’s Online Safety Act. The court said the dispute could potentially return to U.S. courts if Ofcom eventually obtains a judgment in Britain that needs to be enforced in the United States.
The case stems from Ofcom’s enforcement actions against 4chan and its efforts to obtain information required under Britain’s online safety legislation.
Ofcom has imposed additional penalties against 4chan, including £450,000 for failing to implement highly effective age assurance and £50,000 for failing to conduct an illegal-content risk assessment.
Judge Directs Dispute Toward UK Courts
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras dismissed the case after finding that the plaintiffs had brought their challenge in the wrong forum at this stage of the dispute.
The court said 4chan and Kiwi Farms could defend themselves in British courts against Ofcom’s actions. If the regulator obtained a judgment there, the court said enforcement would likely have to take place in the United States because the companies had no presence or operations abroad.
“Put simply, plaintiffs’ suit fails because they seek to use American courts as a sword against Ofcom rather than as a shield to protect themselves,” Judge Contreras said, according to Reuters.
The ruling concerns the jurisdiction and timing of the U.S. lawsuit, and it doesn’t resolve the underlying question of whether 4chan complied with Britain’s Online Safety Act.
4chan and Kiwi Farms had argued that communications and enforcement measures from Ofcom interfered with their constitutional rights and operations in the United States. Ofcom had accused the companies of failing to respond to statutory information requests.
Dispute Began With Ofcom Information Requests
Ofcom opened an investigation into 4chan on June 10, 2025. The regulator said the investigation covered potential failures to respond to a statutory information request, assess the risk of illegal content, comply with illegal-content safety duties and protect children from pornography through highly effective age assurance.
On Aug. 12, 2025, Ofcom issued a provisional notice of contravention to 4chan concerning two statutory information requests. The regulator later imposed a £20,000 penalty for the breaches, with an additional £100 daily penalty for up to 60 days if the required information was not supplied.
The information requests included a copy of 4chan’s written illegal-content risk assessment and information concerning the company’s qualifying worldwide revenue, according to Ofcom’s enforcement documents.
4chan filed the U.S. lawsuit on Aug. 27, 2025, with Kiwi Farms operator Lolcow LLC listed as a co-plaintiff. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and assigned to Judge Contreras.
Ofcom Later Imposed Additional 4chan Penalties
The regulatory dispute continued after the U.S. lawsuit was filed. On 19th March 2026, Ofcom issued three other penalties for 4chan worth a total of £520,000.
The regulator also fined it £450,000 for breaches of its age-assurance requirements, £50,000 for not carrying out a risk assessment to assess illegal content and £20,000 for not defining in its terms of service how people would be protected from illegal content.
Ofcom also mandated that 4chan take “highly effective age assurance and carry out the risk assessment for illegal content by April 2, 2026 and also update their terms of service to include such changes. The regulator imposed further penalties on a daily basis for ongoing noncompliance.
Ofcom closed its investigation into 4chan on March 19, 2026, following those confirmation decisions.
Ofcom Welcomes U.S. Court Ruling
Ofcom welcomed the Washington court’s decision, saying it supported the regulator’s position that it could investigate potential breaches of UK online safety laws.
“A U.S. Court has acknowledged that we are within our rights as a UK regulator to investigate breaches of the UK’s online safety laws, and has dismissed claims by 4chan and Kiwi Farms, who have sought to stop us doing our job of creating a safer life online for people in the UK,” an Ofcom spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.
In Ofcom’s view, obligations under the Online Safety Act apply to online services that offer services to persons in Britain, irrespective of where the provider is based.
The law is designed to safeguard people in the UK, the regulator said in March, and shouldn’t impose limits on what people in other parts of the world can view.
What Is the UK Online Safety Act?
The UK’s Online Safety Act 2023 establishes legal duties for certain online services, including requirements relating to illegal content and children’s online safety.
Ofcom says duties concerning illegal content came into force in March 2025, and providers should assess the risk of people in the UK encountering illegal content, take appropriate measures to reduce those risks and comply with legally binding information requests.
The law has become a point of disagreement between UK regulators and some online services, particularly over how British rules apply to companies based outside the UK.
The critics of the legislation have argued that it could affect free speech, while the British government has fully backed Ofcom’s enforcement actions.
The U.S. dismissal doesn’t resolve the underlying regulatory dispute between 4chan, Kiwi Farms and Ofcom.
The court has directed the companies toward UK legal channels for challenges to Ofcom’s enforcement. The ruling also leaves open a potential future role for U.S. courts if an Ofcom judgment obtained in Britain needs to be enforced against the companies in the United States.
