UK Regulator Ofcom Investigates 4chan and Others for Possible Online Safety Breaches

Britain’s media regulator Ofcom launched nine investigations on Tuesday targeting potential violations of the country’s Online Safety Act, including probes into the internet messageboard 4chan and several file-sharing platforms.

The Online Safety Act, enacted in 2023, imposes stringent requirements on digital platforms to curb criminal activity, with a strong focus on protecting children and eliminating illegal content.

Ofcom received complaints regarding potentially illegal material on 4chan, and separately concerning the sharing of child sexual abuse content on seven file-sharing services. The regulator is examining whether these platforms failed to implement adequate safety measures, properly respond to statutory information requests, and maintain accurate risk assessment records.

Attempts to contact 4chan for comment were unsuccessful.

Under the law, Ofcom can mandate platforms to take corrective actions or impose fines up to £18 million (about $24.28 million) or 10% of their qualifying global revenue, whichever is higher.

In a related investigation, Ofcom is also assessing whether adult content provider First Time Videos has sufficient age verification controls to protect minors.