In brief: The UK has issued its first fine against a company in relation to the country's Online Safety Act (OSA). Controversial US image-hosting board 4chan has been fined £20,000 (around $26,000) for failing to protect children from harmful content, an amount that is increasing by £100 (approximately $133) every day.
UK telecoms watchdog Ofcom writes that 4chan has not responded to a request for a copy of its illegal harms risk assessment or a second request for information about its qualifying worldwide revenue.
In addition to the £20,000 fine, 4chan is being fined £100 per day for up to 60 days or until it complies with the request, up to a maximum of £6,000 (around $8,000). Fines for breaching the OSA can reach £18 million (about $24 million) or 10 percent of an organization's qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. 4chan also faces being banned in the UK and its operators could be arrested and/or imprisoned for a term of up to two years.
Ofcom first requested the information from 4chan on April 14. The agency launched an OSA investigation into the platform in June over complaints about the potential for illegal content and activity it hosted.
4chan responded to the investigation in August by filing a joint lawsuit with Kiwi Farms against the British government. It argued that the OSA infringed on the companies' constitutional right to free speech as American corporations.
Moreover, the platforms claim that the risk assessment could lead them to "potentially incriminate themselves on demand." The suit says this violates Fourth Amendment rights, as well as "the right against self-incrimination and the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution."
Ofcom also announced that it has issued two provisional decisions against file-sharing service Im.ge and pornography service provider AVS Group Ltd for failing to respond to information requests. Moreover, Ofcom has decided that AVS is failing its duty to place highly effective age gates on its services.
Four other file-sharing services – Krakenfiles, Nippydrive, Nippyshare, and Nippyspace – have all blocked British IP addresses in response to Ofcom's investigations, resulting in the cases against them being closed.
"The Online Safety Act is not just law; it's a lifeline. Today we've seen it in action, holding platforms to account so we can protect people across the UK," said Liz Kendall, UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.
"Services can no longer ignore illegal content, like encouraging self-harm or suicide, circulating online, which can devastate young lives and leave families shattered."
In July, the Online Safety Act mandated age and ID checks on all adult sites accessible in the UK. Unsurprisingly, it led to a huge spike in VPN use and people ditching age-verified sites for rule-breakers without any ID checks. It means that those following the rules are losing traffic to those violating them.
UK regulator fines 4chan $26,000 and counting under Online Safety Act
