By Paul Sandle
LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. internet forums 4chan and Kiwi Farms have filed a legal case in the United States against Britain’s media regulator Ofcom, saying its enforcement of the country’s online safety law violated Americans’ right to freedom of speech.
The suit escalates a clash between tech groups and regulators in Britain and the European Union. The regulators say they are trying to protect users online, while critics, led by U.S. President Donald Trump, accuse them of threatening free speech and targeting U.S. companies.
4chan, an irreverent site that hosts content, including pornography and conspiracy theories, is being investigated over its compliance with the new British law.
Ofcom said in June it had received complaints about potential illegal content on 4chan, and that the platform had not responded to a statutory information request.
Kiwi Farms, which has hosted harassment campaigns, has also received demands from Ofcom to comply with the law, according to the filing.
The suit from the two sites said Ofcom sent “threatening communications” to U.S.-based internet companies that interfered with their constitutional rights and operations.
Lawyers for the sites said they operated in compliance with U.S. laws, and their editorial decisions were protected by the First Amendment.
“Foreign governments, particularly those in Europe, which have not managed to build technology sectors of their own have, for the past half-decade or more, sought to control the American Internet, and hobble American competitiveness, through a range of legislative and nonlegislative initiatives,” the suit said.
Ofcom said it was aware of the lawsuit.
“Under the Online Safety Act, any service that has links with the UK now has duties to protect UK users, no matter where in the world it is based,” a spokesperson said.
“The act does not, however, require them to protect users based anywhere else in the world.”
Both sites said they had no presence, operations or infrastructure outside of the United States.
Under the act, however, links with Britain can mean having a significant number of UK users.
Action that Ofcom can take for non-compliance includes fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.
Terry Green, partner at law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman UK, said the suit, irrespective of its merits, was a critical moment.
“Ofcom’s response to this lawsuit will be crucial as this has the risk of being replicated across the United States and even globally,” he said.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Barbara Lewis)
