4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches • Hacker News Board

Re: 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches

#331

Post by nephihaha » Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 10:18 PM UTC

15155 wrote: post #248

EmbarrassedHelp wrote: post #184

Ofcom is currently threatening a Canadian forum that exists to help people with depression. Ofcom claims that geoblocking blocking the UK is "insufficient": > I've also gone back to Ofcom explicitly telling them the UK was now geoblocked (twice now) and I received a response that this was insufficient. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1rk690v/i_ru... Ofcom really thinks that their laws apply gl…

> Ofcom really thinks that their laws apply globally. The cries of a long-since-dead empire slowly fading into geopolitical irrelevance.

Long dead? Within living memory. Britain still has colonies with millions of people in them.

Re: 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches

#332

Post by Reason077 » Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 10:19 PM UTC

throwawaytea wrote: post #259

diego_sandoval wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think anyone running a website should avoid visiting the UK from now on.

A gf asked to go on a trip to England/Ireland and I told her I will go to Brazil or Colombia before I go to the UK. Im not going to risk getting in trouble because I made a post online or discussed immigration or trans people in the wrong way according to them.

> "Im not going to risk getting in trouble because I made a post online or discussed immigration or trans people in the wrong way according to them."

This is a mis-truth which has been spread by Joe Rogan and his ilk. Political speech is very much protected in UK law. You won't get in "trouble" if you make posts against immigration or trans people. J.K. Rowling and Ricky Gervais certainly haven't been locked up.

Yes, there have been cases, such as the infamous Cowley Hill School case where Hertfordshire police arrested a couple over their posts in a school WhatsApp group. However, such arrests are illegal and in that case the police had to apologise and pay compensation.

What will get you in trouble in the UK is threatening violence against people or posting hate speech that encourages others to do so. But this is also true in the USA and in most countries.

Re: 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches

#333

Post by nvarsj » Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 10:19 PM UTC

I don't really understand what is going on with Ofcom.

This nonsense, and yet they allow GBNews to keep spewing propaganda and violate almost all broadcast standards that Ofcom is supposed to enforce.

Re: 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches

#334

Post by PUSH_AX » Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 10:20 PM UTC

observationist wrote: post #327

bromuk wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean the US have nukes and they’re hardly stable and predictable. Allow them to have nukes, who are you lol

>who are you lol The US. Who else on the planet would have the effective power to possibly even think about who should and shouldn't have them, while plausibly being able to do anything about it?

Probably a country that has done so in the past, like the UK…

Re: 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches

#335

Post by sippeangelo » Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 10:22 PM UTC

epolanski wrote: post #256

OsrsNeedsf2P wrote: post #5

4chan's lawyer's response: "In the only country in which 4chan operates, the United States, it is breaking no law and indeed its conduct is expressly protected by the First Amendment."[0] [0] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c624330lg1ko

But 4chan doesn't geoblock users? So it's clearly operating globally. Country flags are a major feature of the board.

4chan is clearly operating in the US. The UK can easily cut the overseas cables and fix the problem!

Re: 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches

#336

Post by 2postsperday » Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 10:22 PM UTC

tyho wrote: post #161

3rodents wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we want to base the argument on technical nuance, 4chan are sending their packets to the U.K. just as the cocaine dealer would be sending packets (of cocaine) to their buyers in the U.K.

4chan send their packets to their ISP, not the UK.

[dead]

Re: 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches

#337

Post by cineticdaffodil » Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 10:22 PM UTC

15155 wrote: post #248

EmbarrassedHelp wrote: post #184

Ofcom is currently threatening a Canadian forum that exists to help people with depression. Ofcom claims that geoblocking blocking the UK is "insufficient": > I've also gone back to Ofcom explicitly telling them the UK was now geoblocked (twice now) and I received a response that this was insufficient. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1rk690v/i_ru... Ofcom really thinks that their laws apply gl…

> Ofcom really thinks that their laws apply globally. The cries of a long-since-dead empire slowly fading into geopolitical irrelevance.

[dead]

Re: 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches

#338

Post by 2postsperday » Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 10:25 PM UTC

bigfatkitten wrote: post #139

cm2187 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And we shall call it "the Great Firewall of the UK". It is amazing that these guys don't see the irony of monkeying totaliterian states policies, in term of surveillance and censorship.

The UK, like Australia and many of its other offshoots has always had a bit of a totalitarian streak.

[dead]

Re: 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches

#339

Post by Leynos » Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 10:26 PM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #321

patrickmcnamara wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the HN way to say "touch grass"?

Not to say it, but instead to choose to say something both interesting and directly responsive to the comment you're replying to.

Okay, here goes. You can tell when someone is acting in bad faith when they talk about a law that has been in force and enforced since the 1960s is something new.

Of course, "touch grass" works just as well.

Re: 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches

#340

Post by dmitrygr » Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 10:26 PM UTC

epolanski wrote: post #270

dmitrygr wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simply put: The US has the ability to enforce or to cause enough pain to cause self-enforcement

Which will ultimately push alienation towards US for good. Trump is merely a huge accelerator of an existing trend.

People keep saying this and it a profound misunderstanding of how the world works.

Nobody likes USA. Nor is that required. It is irrelevant. International politics do not run on emotions. As long as USA is capable of enforcing its will, USA's view will be the one that matters. You may dislike it, but that is what it is.