Overview
- Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes told MPs that if foreign courts obstruct enforcement, the regulator may have to accept it cannot recover fines issued to overseas firms.
- Since the Online Safety Act began taking effect, Ofcom has issued 11 fines for online safety breaches; two have been paid and nine remain unpaid.
- A U.S. District Court in Washington dismissed 4chan’s suit on jurisdiction grounds and said American courts generally decline to enforce foreign judgments that would violate the U.S. Constitution, making U.S. recovery of UK fines doubtful.
- 4chan remains online, has not paid its fines, and has mocked Ofcom with AI‑generated images while its lawyer framed the regulator’s admission as a practical defeat.
- Faced with limited cross‑border remedies, Ofcom may return to Parliament to seek interim disruption or blocking powers that would target access inside the UK, a move that would affect British ISPs and users and could be partly evaded by tools such as VPNs.