- Ofcom fined 4chan £20,000 for failing to provide required risk assessment information under the OSA.
- The penalty may increase by £100 per day for up to 60 days or until compliance is achieved.
- The fine is a fraction of the maximum penalty under the Act (£18 million or 10% of global revenue), indicating enforcement is in early stages.
- The move raises jurisdictional questions—4chan’s US-base means the UK is stretching enforcement beyond national borders.
- Children’s safety is the stated priority: the OSA is designed to force platforms to complete “illegal harms” risk assessments and make them public.
The UK’s regulatory framework for online safety has stepped into enforcement mode. Under the Online Safety Act 2023, the communications regulator Ofcom has issued its first formal fine: £20,000 to 4chan for failing to comply with statutory demands for risk-assessment data and for allegedly allowing illegal content to proliferate on its service. While relatively small compared to the Act’s maximum penalties, this action signals a clear shift—from consultation to consequence.
The fine comes with a threat of daily escalation—£100 a day for up to 60 days—if 4chan continues to ignore requests. This marks the first concrete enforcement of the OSA’s requirement that platforms serving UK users conduct and retain records of risk assessments for illegal and harmful content, including child-sexual abuse imagery and violent material. The regulator has stressed that the law applies regardless of the provider’s base, an extraterritorial reach that is controversial and already subject to legal challenge by US-based firms claiming free-speech infringement.
From a children’s-safety perspective, the significance is twofold. First, this is not just about regulation—it’s about accountability. Platforms can no longer simply say “we have policies” without proving they do. Second, for parents and educators, this enforcement moment may signal the beginning of a real shift in how big tech is held to account for the content children can access. That said, the size of the penalty suggests enforcement remains cautious. Many platforms will still have time to adjust before facing major fines.
Source: Reuters
