Endgame with Amanda Cassatt
Britain Threatened 4chan With £18 Million and Prison. Its Lawyer Sent a Hamster
“Thanks very much for several dozen pages of legally void correspondence. It will make excellent bedding for my pet hamster.” That’s how Preston Byrne, the lawyer representing 4chan, responded to Britain’s internet regulator, Ofcom. The dispute began after Ofcom targeted 4chan under the UK’s Online Safety Act. The regulator ultimately imposed £520,000 in additional penalties in March 2026, following an earlier £20,000 fine. Preston says the enforcement correspondence also threatened penalties of up to £18 million and potential imprisonment — against an American internet company with no presence, operations, or infrastructure outside the United States. 4chan and Kiwi Farms took Ofcom to U.S. federal court. On September 15, 2026, the case was dismissed on sovereign-immunity grounds because the court found it lacked jurisdiction. The ruling did not decide the underlying constitutional dispute over whether Ofcom’s orders could ultimately be enforced against protected activity in the United States. In this episode of Endgame, Amanda Cassatt and Preston Byrne unpack what the UK’s Online Safety Act would require platforms like 4chan to change, why U.S. and British free-speech law diverge so sharply, and what happens when a foreign regulator claims authority over an American website. They also discuss Brexit and tech regulation, why Preston tells founders to think carefully about where they build AI, crypto, and internet companies, and the GRANITE Act legislation introduced in the U.S. House aimed at limiting the domestic enforcement of foreign censorship orders. The bigger question: can an open internet survive when governments around the world increasingly claim jurisdiction over what happens online? Timestamps 00:00 Why Preston Byrne Represents 4chan 02:44 The UK Online Safety Act and Ofcom 06:11 Can UK Rules Reach U.S. Websites? 10:44 Why Preston Replied With a Hamster 15:33 What Happened in 4chan vs. Ofcom? 19:35 How U.S. Companies Respond to Ofcom 21:58 What Ofcom Wanted 4chan to Change 26:22 Free Speech in the U.S. vs. UK 31:19 Is There a Case for the UK Approach? 34:02 Why the Fight Became Personal 36:32 Is Preston Byrne a Free Speech Absolutist? 38:48 Who Tries to Control Online Speech? 43:42 Brexit, Europe and Tech Regulation 47:44 Where Should Tech Founders Build? 48:56 The GRANITE Foreign-Speech Shield 55:50 Can the Open Internet Survive? Follow Preston https://x.com/prestonjbyrne?lang=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/prestonjbyrne #4chan #Ofcom #OnlineSafetyAct #OpenInternet #FreeSpeech #InternetLaw #TechPolicy #FirstAmendment #AI #Crypto #PrestonByrne #Endgame
