Multiple Countries Ofcom declares "sovereign immunity"...

[Nektar Geist]

MSN

https://archive.is/QJHxS

"Ofcom has claimed it has “sovereign immunity” as it seeks to fend off a US free speech lawsuit from the website 4chan.

Lawyers for the regulator told a US court that there were “substantial grounds” for throwing out the lawsuit on the basis that it cannot be sued in America.

4chan, a notorious online message board, has sued Ofcom in the US, claiming that the regulator’s enforcement of the Online Safety Act contravenes American laws, including the First Amendment, which protects free speech."

Notorious. N-n-n-notorious.

"It comes after Ofcom investigated the company under the Act and fined the company £20,000, which it has refused to pay.

In a notice filed to a federal court in Washington, its first response to the lawsuit, the regulator said: “Ofcom is a UK public regulatory authority and has substantial grounds for seeking dismissal of this lawsuit based on sovereign immunity.”

"The US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act shields foreign governments from lawsuits in the US.

4chan’s lawsuit argues that Ofcom operates as a “commercial enterprise” and thus should not benefit from sovereign immunity."

Sovereign immunity has been used to dismiss lawsuits against Saudi Arabia by the families of 9/11 victims, and against Germany by the heirs of Holocaust survivors.

In a separate decision notice published on Tuesday, Ofcom said it does not accept 4chan’s argument that it is protected by the First Amendment. It also suggested that the case could be invalid on other grounds, including Ofcom having no meaningful presence in the US."

"Ofcom has fined 4chan £20,000 and said it faces further daily fines of £100 for failing to comply with the act, which requires sites to carry out a detailed “risk assessment” related to illegal harms.

4chan, which has no staff or office in the UK, has said it will refuse to pay the fine, and the stand-off may ultimately lead to Ofcom blocking the site in the UK.

At a meeting in the Oval Office in February, JD Vance, the US vice president, clashed with Sir Keir Starmer over free speech.

Mr Vance said: “There have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British, of course, what the British do in their own country is up to them, but also affect American technology companies.”

Sir Keir said: “Certainly, we wouldn’t want to reach across US citizens, and we don’t.”

 

[thefrogninja]

Makes sense to me. OFCOM is not based on America and can't be sued there It's like suing someone in California when what happened occurred in Texas. However, OFCOM can block American companies that do "business" in Englad can demand sites follow their regulations and/or pay a fine. Many LARGER American companies than 4chan and Kiwifarms have not sought to challenge OFCOM despite having the money to. One must wonder why.

 

[IKOL]

Lawyers for the regulator told a US court that there were “substantial grounds” for throwing out the lawsuit on the basis that it cannot be sued in America

And yet they have fined 4chan, yes?
So what makes them bozos think that the lawsuit have no leg to stand on? An intellectually deficient country fines independent foreign site which is being hosted in US, what kind of response they were expecting?
Their "logic" May work both ways and to create a very unwanted precedent to OFCOM which would mark that any kind of their statement regarding foreign resources and them "civil duty" to pander to britbong madness is null and void and have no legal or constitutional weight

At least that's the way I see this situation.