Two of the internet's most controversial social media sites, 4Chan and Kiwi Farms, filed a federal lawsuit against the British government on Wednesday, arguing that requirements under the U.K.'s Cyber Security Act violate their constitutional rights as U.S. companies.
In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Preston Byrne and Ron Coleman, the legal team representing the two sites, said their clients were fined by Ofcom for "engaging in conduct that is entirely lawful in the jurisdiction where their sites are located." Ofcom is the UK agency responsible for regulating online content.
4Chan and Kiwi Farms are widely regarded as two of the most harmful websites on the Internet, with user bases that engage heavily in the types of online behavior that the Cybersecurity Act seeks to punish: racism, hate speech, harassment, spreading conspiracy theories, bullying, and more. Kiwi Farms has become the center of a campaign of aggressive harassment, particularly against women and trans people, that often spills over into the real world. 4Chan has also given rise to mass harassment campaigns like Gamergate, as well as racist mass shootings and conspiracy theories like QAnon.
4Chan and Kiwi Farms could face hefty fines of up to £18 million if their sites are accessible in the UK if they fail to comply with Ofcom's requirements to submit regular "risk assessment" reports about their user base. In early August, Ofcom issued an interim decision stating that there were "reasonable grounds" to believe 4chan had breached the requirement. In the filing, their lawyers argued that Ofcom was exceeding its legal authority by seeking to apply British law to US-based companies whose actions are protected by the US Constitution and US law, and sought to have a US federal judge declare Ofcom had no jurisdiction over the matter.
"American citizens will not give up our constitutional rights just because Ofcom sent us an email," Byrne said in a statement to reporters.
The OSA's request sparked an international backlash, as it was unclear whether sites such as Reddit, Bluesky and Wikipedia would be subject to the same penalties. But the Make America Great Again (MAGA) internet community - the core of the movement supporting Donald Trump - has previously argued that OSA specifically targets networks that host far-right content and that the Biden administration is allowing them to do so.
The Trump administration has taken a more aggressive stance on the Make America Great Again (MAGA) internet, reportedly threatening countries with higher tariffs unless they roll back cybersecurity laws. In one case, they did: Last month, Trump issued an executive order raising tariffs on some products from Brazil by 40%, citing legal action by Brazil against Rumble and Truth Social.
Byrne, who previously represented right-wing social network Parler, said he believed the Trump administration had tried to force Ofcom to make concessions through diplomatic channels. While there is no sign that the US State Department has intervened, Byrne said lawyers representing other sites facing similar problems with Ofcom are paying close attention: If 4Chan and Kiwi Farms can get legal protection, they deserve it too. "I don't want to get into details," he said, "but certainly there are a lot of lawyers interested in Ofcom right now."