US court dismisses 4chan's case against Britain's media regulator

Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. internet forums 4chan and Kiwi Farms' lawsuit against Britain's media regulator Ofcom has been dismissed by a court in Washington DC, which said it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the matter.

The owners of the forums clashed with Ofcom over its enforcement of Britain's Online Safety Act, legislation which has caused broader tension between U.S. tech companies and Britain.

Critics of the law, which is designed to protect children and vulnerable users from illegal content online, have said it threatens free speech. The British government has "fully backed" Ofcom in taking action.

4chan, an irreverent site that hosts content including pornography and conspiracy theories, and Kiwi Farms had said "threatening communications" they had received from the British regulator interfered with their constitutional rights and operations.

Ofcom had accused both of failing to respond to its statutory information requests.

Ofcom sent 4chan a "provisional notice of contravention" on August 12, 2025, that threatened to impose a fine of £20,000 ($27,000) as well as daily fines of £100 for up to 60 days. 4chan brought its suit later that month.

The regulator imposed the fine — the first under the new regime — in October.

The U.S. court ruling, dated Tuesday, said the plaintiffs could defend themselves in British courts. It added that if Ofcom obtained a judgment, that would most likely have to be enforced in the United States, because the companies had no presence or operations abroad.

At that point they could take their case to U.S. courts, the judgment said.

"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," District Judge Rudolph Contreras said.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: "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."

($1 = 0.7424 pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Andrew Heavens)