You have to laugh. That Americans don't obey British censors is settled law here; Ofcom might as well have ordered that the Moon be made of cheese. That fine will never be enforced in the USA. The UK is welcome to try to enforce it in an American court if they disagree.

I add that Ofcom, in its fine decision, reserved the right to hide behind sovereign immunity to escape accountability in the US courts. So my clients don't benefit from the First Amendment, but Ofcom gets to benefit from FSIA? Congress should fix.

The fact that the UK is threatening American citizens with fines and jail time for free speech, and prepares to hide behind U.S. law as it does so, is political problem that needs to be handled - now - at the topmost levels of American government if it is to cease going forward.

My GRANITE Act proposal, sent to a number of NH General Court representatives yesterday evening, would strip sovereign immunity from any foreign state that tries to censor Americans. Congress should follow its example, as should every single U.S. state.

Foreign censors waving the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act at U.S. citizens attempting to defend their constitutional rights in U.S. courts proves one thing: We need to strip sovereign immunity for foreign censors, and impose hefty statutory penalties on their conduct

Brazil also decided to try to enforce its content moderation law against 4chan today. What a coincidence! Our reply:

When Australia finally gets around to it I am going to respond in the style of Crocodile Dundee

More from Ofcom's notice: "We note 4chan's submission that Ofcom does not have jurisdiction to take enforcement action on the grounds that... Ofcom has no power to enforce UK laws in the US." "We do not accept this point." The UK says the US isn't sovereign.

This is a straight up sovereignty fight between the UK and the US now. The UK says US law doesn't apply on US soil. They said so in writing. And they also said they're immune under US law. When will Congress and the Trump Administration act?

We will not be responding. Our response to this was filed in DC federal court six weeks ago. https://x.com/JenniferStrby/st...

I add. There was not a lot of legislative velocity for stripping sovereign immunity for foreign censors 24 hours ago. I hope, now that a foreign censor has tried to hide behind sovereign immunity while also trying to censor Americans, that this may change.

There is a draft bill, btw. It was sent to relevant individuals last night, approximately 4 hours before Ofcom's letters landed in my inbox.

tl;dr? We aren't going to permanently stop foreign censorship of US citizens and companies with lawsuits - we need a new law to address the threat. I think the chances of getting that new law are materially higher today than 24 hours ago.

@prestonjbyrne I think this is Ofcom saying "We are not prepared to discuss the matter.", but does it halt the US legal proceedings?

@RussBeeby nope

@prestonjbyrne But sovereign immunity, applies to the sovereign. On US soil OfCom is not part of the US government? Fine if suing for UK activity, but they are laying claim to US activity with no mirror US legislation to rely upon? If the US gov tried to fine a US entity it would go to court?

@prestonjbyrne If the courts don't have jurisdiction against OFCOM, what jurisdiction does OFCOM have in the US?

@prestonjbyrne if you want to sue countries or governments, you go to an international court