Senior technology reporter
Getty imagesA lawyer representing the online message board 4chan says it will not pay the penalty proposed by the UK media regulator as it implements the online security act.
According to Preston Bayran, managing partner of the law firm Burn and Storm, Tomcom has decided to provide a fine of £ 20,000 provisionally “with the daily punishment” until the site fails to follow its request.
He said, “COM notices do not make any legal obligation in the United States,” he told the BBC, saying that the investigation of the regulator was part of the “illegal campaign of harassment” against the US technical firms.
Tomcom has refused to comment while its investigation is on.
“4chan has not broken any law in the United States – my customers will not pay any fine,” said Mr. Bayran.
Ofcom started investigating 4chan On whether it was complying with its obligations under the UK’s Online Security Act.
Then in August, he said that he had issued 4chan with “an provisional notice of violation” to fail to follow two requests for information.
Ofcom said that its investigation would investigate whether the message was complying with the Board Act, including the requirements to protect their users from illegal content.
4chan has often been at the center of online controversies in its 22 years, including the principles of incorrect campaign and conspiracy.
The users are anonymous, which can often be posted to extreme materials.
‘First Amendment Rights’
In a statement posted on X, Law firm Bayron & Storm and Coleman Law said that 4chan was an American company involved in the US, and therefore preserved against the UK law.
“American businesses do not surrender their first amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an email,” he wrote.
“Under the principles of American law, the US courts will not apply foreign punishment or censorship code.
“If necessary, we will seek proper relief in the US federal court to confirm these principles.”
He said that officers in the US were “brief” on their response to the Aftcom investigating.
The statement ended the Trump administration to implement all diplomatic and legal liver to protect American businesses from “supernatural censorship mandate”.
Ofcom has previously stated that the online security act requires services to take action for the safety of users located in the UK only.
UK back down
Some American politicians – especially the Trump administration, its associates and officials – have pushed back against what the UK and the European Union has believed in the regulation of US tech firms.
An alleged impact of the online security act on free speech has been a special concern, but other laws have also been a source of disagreement.
On August 19, Tulsi Gabbard, US US director, National Intelligence, said that Britain withdrew its controversial demand for “backdoor” in an Apple Data Protection System – saying that he had worked with the President and Vice President to give up his plan to the UK.
Two days later, the US Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson warned large technical firms that they could violate the US law if they weaken privacy and data security requirements by following international laws such as online security act.
“Foreign governments seeking to limit independent expression in the United States or weaken data security in the United States can rely on the fact that companies have an incentive to simplify their operations and legal compliance measures,” he said.
If 4chan successfully fights fine in American courts, Tomcom may have other options.
“It is difficult to implement against an offshore provider,” Emma Drake, a partner of online security and privacy in the law firm bird and bird, told the BBC.
“Instead a court may ask a court to order other services to disrupt the UK business of a provider in a court, such as removing the service from the search results or blocking the UK payment.
“If Tomcom does not think it will be enough to prevent significant damage, it may also ask the ISP to be ordered to block UK access.”
