4chan's law firms stated that 4chan is incorporated in Delaware with no establishment, assets, or operations in the United Kingdom and pledged to resist any UK penalty in U.S. federal court. The lawyers called on the Trump administration to use diplomatic and legal measures to protect American companies from extraterritorial censorship mandates. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson sent letters warning that censoring Americans to comply with foreign laws may violate U.S. law and cited the EU Digital Services Act, the UK Online Safety Act, and the UK's Investigatory Powers Act. Those letters were sent to major tech firms. The Wikimedia Foundation is contesting a UK provision that could require identity verification of Wikipedia users.
"4chan is a United States company, incorporated in Delaware, with no establishment, assets, or operations in the United Kingdom. Any attempt to impose or enforce a penalty against 4chan will be resisted in US federal court. American businesses do not surrender their First Amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an e-mail."
"The letters noted that companies might feel pressured to censor and weaken data security protections for Americans in response to the laws, demands, or expected demands of foreign powers," the FTC said. "These laws include the European Union's Digital Services Act and the United Kingdom's Online Safety Act, which incentivize tech companies to censor worldwide speech, and the UK's Investigatory Powers Act, which can require companies to weaken their encryption measures to enable UK law enforcement to access data stored by users."
Collection
[
|
...
]