US firms sue UK regulator for ‘coercive’ threats, free speech attacks

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom is facing US legal action over its “coercive” threats enforcing the Online Safety Act and breaching free speech rights.

4chan and Kiwi Farms – two sites that aren’t exactly strangers to controversy – are taking the UK’s internet Ofcom to court in the US. They’re accusing the watchdog of a massive and illegal overreach, claiming it’s trying to act as a global censor for the web.

In a complaint filed on 27 August 2025, the companies argue that Ofcom is attempting to enforce UK rules on US soil, trampling all over their constitutional rights. The lawsuit alleges that a foreign regulator is trying to “control the American Internet, and hobble American competitiveness”.

Both 4chan, a Delaware company, and Kiwi Farms, based in West Virginia, are clear on one point: they are American companies, and they “do not answer to the UK”. They stress that they have no offices, no staff, and no equipment anywhere outside the US.

Transatlantic tussle over UK’s free speech clampdown

While the Online Safety Act has been widely criticised here in the UK for compromising free speech and actually increasing dangers, this legal showdown is about whether such a law can police websites based in other countries.

The Online Safety Act gives Ofcom sweeping powers to do just that, targeting any service that people in the UK can access. The lawsuit argues this is a direct collision with sacred American legal protections, especially the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.

The websites claim the UK’s rules would force them to delete content that is perfectly legal in the US. They point to the OSA’s “false communications offence,” calling it a backdoor way of criminalising defamation, something the lawsuit notes was “permanently abolished in the United States when the First Amendment was ratified.”

Furthermore, the websites attack the law’s age verification rules—arguing it would kill the anonymous speech that is a protected right for both the platforms and their users.

On top of that, they’re leaning heavily on Section 230 (the bedrock of American internet law that says platforms aren’t liable for what their users post.) The complaint says Ofcom’s demands ignore this protection entirely, wrongly treating them as the “publisher or speaker” of their users’ content.

‘Coercive threats’ from Ofcom

The court documents lay out a trail of what the companies call “coercive threats” from Ofcom. 4chan says it started with a “legally binding information notice” on 14 April 2025. This letter allegedly threatened fines of £18 million or 10% of global turnover, and even potential arrest and “imprisonment for a term of up to two years” if they didn’t comply.

After more emails and letters, things escalated. On 12 August 2025, Ofcom sent a “Provisional Decision” notice, hitting 4chan with a proposed £20,000 fine and daily penalties for ignoring the UK regulator’s demands to suppress free speech and increase censorship under the guise of online safety.

Kiwi Farms tells a similar story. They received an “Advisory Letter” on 26 March 2025, which bluntly stated, “it does not matter where you or your business are based, the new duties will apply.”

Like an increasing number of global websites, Kiwi Farms’ initial reaction was to simply block UK users. But after the block was briefly down for maintenance, Ofcom sent another demand. The lawsuit stresses that none of these demands were served through proper international legal channels, like the US-UK Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

Making an example of smaller platforms

The lawsuit claims this isn’t just a legal squabble; it’s a calculated political move. It accuses Ofcom of deliberately targeting “some of the most well-known, but small and, financially speaking, defenseless platforms” to make an example of them.

The goal, they allege, is to scare bigger and more powerful US tech giants to disregard their constitutional free speech rights and quietly fall in line with UK law.

Now, 4chan and Kiwi Farms are asking a US judge to step in. They want the court to officially declare Ofcom’s orders as totally unenforceable in the US and to issue an injunction blocking the regulator from trying to enforce the Online Safety Act against them ever again.

Whatever the outcome, this case has set up a major battle over who gets to write the rules for the global internet. The free speech clampdown in the UK has already caught the attention of the White House, and many Brits in the UK concerned about the impact of the dystopian Online Safety Act will also be supporting this action in the hope it may encourage lawmakers to at least revise what is often viewed as flawed and dangerous legislation.

See also: Online Safety Act sparks rush to risky free VPN services

Want to experience the full spectrum of enterprise technology innovation? Join TechEx in Amsterdam, California, and London. Covering AI, Big Data, Cyber Security, IoT, Digital Transformation, Intelligent Automation, Edge Computing, and Data Centres, TechEx brings together global leaders to share real-world use cases and in-depth insights. Click here for more information.

TechHQ is powered by TechForge Media. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars here.

Tags: censorship, europe, free speech, government, law, legal, ofcom, politics, regulation, uk, usa