Britain’s online safety regulator has taken a new and far more aggressive step in its campaign to impose UK internet rules on foreign platforms. Newly released correspondence shows Ofcom informing 4chan Community Support LLC that it is expanding its investigation into the American message board to include alleged violations of the United Kingdom’s “Protection of Children” duties under the Online Safety Act. The December 4, 2025 letter makes clear that Ofcom claims jurisdiction over any global website with UK visitors, no matter where the service is based or who it primarily serves.
The move crystallizes what Foundation for Freedom Online has warned about since the passage of the Online Safety Act. In previous reporting, FFO documented how the law was written to apply extraterritorially, granting UK authorities the power to compel American companies to adopt British speech restrictions, content-moderation practices, and identity-verification systems. FFO also previously highlighted that UK officials insist the First Amendment offers no shield for US firms operating online when their platforms are accessible inside the United Kingdom.
In its new letter, Ofcom asserts that 4chan is “likely to be accessed by children” and therefore must implement what the regulator calls “highly effective age assurance.” Because Ofcom has identified “Primary Priority Content” on the site, the regulator says 4chan is legally required to prevent minors from encountering it through robust age-verification or age-estimation technologies. The letter emphasizes that these duties apply “wherever in the world you are based,” so long as UK users can reach the site.
In practice, this means foreign platforms must adopt intrusive identity systems to satisfy UK regulators. A recent FFO report shows that global regulators are increasingly tying the causes of digital ID for age verification and “fighting disinformation” together, as a single, standardized global standard for digital regulation.
The letter also reveals Ofcom’s enforcement posture. The regulator plans to publicly announce its action in an Enforcement Bulletin and describes its investigation as an effort to ensure that foreign platforms adopt “proportionate systems and processes” that meet British standards. A US-based platform can thus be deemed noncompliant simply because Ofcom decides its internal safeguards are insufficient.
Critics from across the political spectrum have long argued that the Online Safety Act would become a global speech-policing regime. UK regulators are now demonstrating how that regime works in practice: asserting authority over American platforms, demanding intrusive identity verification, and enforcing British content rules abroad.
As the investigation into 4chan expands, the broader implications are becoming difficult to ignore. The UK is no longer merely regulating domestic digital services. It is attempting to govern the global internet.
