4chan shrugs off UK regulator, refuses to pay £520,000 in fines over online safety violations

The U.K.’s media regulator Ofcom fined 4chan £450,000 under the Online Safety Act for failing to introduce age checks to stop children from accessing pornographic content on its platform. 4chan is an online forum notorious for its extreme right-wing content, gory videos, and non-consensual pornography.

The regulator ordered the company to introduce age assurance measures by 2 April 2026 and said additional daily penalties of £500 could apply if the issue is not resolved, with enforcement continuing until compliance is achieved or until 1 June 2026.

4chan also did not properly assess the risk of illegal content on its platform, and the issue is still unresolved. Ofcom fined the company £50,000 and told it to complete a risk assessment by 2 April 2026. If it misses the deadline, daily fines of £200 could follow until the issue is fixed or until 1 June 2026.

Finally, 4chan also failed to set out in its terms of service how users are protected from illegal content. Ofcom imposed a £20,000 fine, with daily penalties of £100 from 2 April until 1 June if the issue remains unresolved.

“Companies – wherever they’re based – are not allowed to sell unsafe toys to children in the UK. And society has long protected youngsters from things like alcohol, smoking and gambling. The digital world should be no different,” Suzanne Cater, Director of Enforcement at Ofcom, said.

“The UK is setting new standards for online safety. Age checks and risk assessments are cornerstones of our laws, and we’ll take robust enforcement action against firms that fall short,” concluded Cater.

A lawyer for the company, which has previously said it will not pay such fines, responded on X with an AI-generated cartoon image of a hamster.