December 4, 2025
Popcorn at the border
The Ofcom Files, Part 4: Ofcom Rides Again
UK watchdog vs 4chan ignites free‑speech brawl as commenters pick sides
TLDR: Ofcom pushed 4chan to adopt age checks, and 4chan’s lawyer fired back, citing U.S. free speech and pitching a law to block foreign censorship. Commenters split between cheering the fight, warning of geoblocked internet, and saying it’s all performative drama—making this a high‑stakes, cross‑border flame war.
Ofcom sent another notice aimed at 4chan under the UK’s new Online Safety Act, and U.S. lawyer Preston Byrne replied with a flaming “nope”—saying 4chan won’t do age checks because anonymity is free speech. He also boosted his proposed GRANITE Act, a U.S. law to block foreign censorship, and joked the British Army would need to physically seize servers. The comments lit up like bonfire night. One camp is cheering the pushback—users call Ofcom a “censorship agency” and love the public fight, with nods to the GRANITE proposal. Another camp calls it drama for clicks, asking why not just ignore the UK entirely if 4chan is U.S.-based. Then there’s the doom squad: people warning this is Phase One of geoblocking the open web, with police “Stasi” vibes and creative lawyering expanding control.
Memes flew: “permission from every apparatchik” to say “no comment,” and riffs on the British Army storming data centers. The Kim Dotcom saga was dragged in as Exhibit A of cross‑border overreach. Strongest mood? A split screen: fight-the-censors vs this is theater. Either way, readers agree the stakes are huge—age checks vs anonymity, and whether foreign rules can reach into American websites. Grab popcorn; the Atlantic just turned into a comment section.
Key Points
- •The author reports receiving another letter from UK regulator Ofcom and includes the full correspondence with commentary.
- •In a formal reply, counsel for 4chan rejects Ofcom’s “age assurance” requirements, citing First Amendment protections for user anonymity.
- •The article claims U.S. Under Secretary Sarah Rogers said on GB News that Congress is considering a federal version of the GRANITE Act.
- •The GRANITE proposal began as a blog post by the author and was converted into a state bill by Wyoming official Colin Crossman.
- •The author represents 4chan, with co-counsel Ron Coleman, in a U.S. federal lawsuit against Ofcom concerning the UK Online Safety Act’s application.