4Chan Lawyer publishes Ofcom correspondence. Irony is overwhelming

Summary

Ofcom — driven by the letter of British law that they are bound to follow, but still Ofcom — are quietly making Britain look (a) very silly and (b) as if we haven’t yet shucked-off the American Revolution, let alone colonialism. What’s Happened Now? Preston Byrne, lawyer for 4Chan, has published the (apparently full) correspondence between himself and Ofcom from the past few months, the smoking gun of which is the Ofcom Confirmation Decision, where Ofcom notes: (to summarise) The Act explicitly grants Ofcom the legal authority to regulate online safety for individuals in the United Kingdom, and this expressly includes conducting investigations into, and imposing penalties for, non-compliance by providers of online services with their duties under the Act. […] The Act expressly anticipates that it will have extra-territorial effect, stating at section 204(1) of the Act […] This does not mean that the Act extends to all use of in-scope services globally. […] “The duties extend only to the design, operation and use of the service in the UK and, for duties expressed to apply in relation to ‘users’, as it affects the UK users of the service” My lived experience of Ofcom people makes me believe that this is a reflection of what they actually think they can and should be doing — I would love to be generous and suggest that this boilerplate reflects them politely throwing parliament under a bus for passing such a prima-facie dreadfully drafted and over-reaching law as the Online Safety Act… but I’m not convinced that Ofcom don’t actually believe some form of “we can do this! we are the little regulator who can bring law to the internet!” — hoping that smooth patter and soft power will provide them with outsize leverage. Oh, and… having declared British jurisdictional powers to enforce against an American company in America thereby flouting American law, they then demand that American law protects them from counter-lawsuits, not to mention also claiming that 4Chan does not h...