UK regulator fines 4chan for ignoring Online Safety Act demands

The UK's internet regulator, Ofcom, has fined the online forum 4chan £20,000 ($26,700) for failing to comply with its requests under the country's new Online Safety Act. This is the first fine imposed by Ofcom under the new law, which aims to prevent children from accessing harmful content online. 4chan has ignored Ofcom's requests for information about its illegal harms risk assessment and qualifying worldwide revenue. The regulator has also imposed an additional penalty of £100 ($133) per day until 4chan complies with its requests. Ofcom's investigation into 4chan was launched after receiving complaints about illegal content on the anonymous online board. 4chan had previously filed a lawsuit against Ofcom, arguing that the enforcement of the UK's Online Safety Act violates Americans' freedom of speech. The regulator has also announced the results of other investigations, including finding "serious compliance concerns" with two file-sharing services that have now deployed an automated tool to detect and remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Four other file-sharing services chose to geoblock access from UK IP addresses instead, leading to the closure of their cases.