Britain issues first online safety fine to US website 4chan, and it’s a real head-scratcher for so many reasons. Firstly, the sheer audacity of trying to fine a website that’s notoriously anonymous, globally accessible, and based in the US is almost comical. It’s like trying to nail jelly to a wall. The comments are pretty much split between those who see this as a toothless gesture and those who think it’s a worrying sign of things to come.
The practicalities are what really trip people up. How do you even enforce a fine against a platform like 4chan? The servers aren’t in the UK, the people running it are likely scattered across the globe, and good luck getting any of them to willingly comply.… Continue reading
Following the announcement of a new fee on H-1B visas, flight prices from India to the US skyrocketed due to a surge in demand as individuals rushed to return. Simultaneously, users on 4Chan initiated “Operation Clog the Toilet,” aiming to further inflate prices and hinder bookings by reserving seats without completing purchases. This tactic, aimed at exploiting seat-holding features, contributed to the scarcity of available flights and amplified the price increases. Despite a White House clarification that the new fee wouldn’t affect current H-1B holders abroad, major companies had already instructed employees to return or stay in the US, exacerbating the travel chaos.
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Controversial online forums 4chan and Kiwi Farms are taking legal action against the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, in a US Federal Court. The legal complaint seeks to prevent Ofcom from enforcing the Online Safety Act against them in the US, arguing that US businesses without a UK presence are not subject to British legislation and that the Act violates US free speech protections. Lawyers representing 4chan have stated that Ofcom has provisionally decided to impose a fine for non-compliance with information requests. Ofcom alleges that 4chan has not complied with the act and is investigating its adherence to duties aimed at protecting users from illegal content.
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4chan’s legal representation has declared the online message board will not comply with fines imposed by the UK’s media regulator, Ofcom, under the Online Safety Act. The lawyer, Preston Byrne, stated that Ofcom’s notices hold no legal weight in the United States and viewed the investigation as harassment against US tech firms. 4chan, a US-incorporated company, asserts its protection under the First Amendment and will not pay the proposed £20,000 fine and subsequent daily penalties. They plan to seek relief in US federal court if necessary and have already briefed US authorities on their stance.
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4chan, the notorious internet message board, has been hacked. This isn’t some minor security breach; this involved a cleverly executed exploit leveraging a vulnerability that highlights the site’s outdated infrastructure. The attack apparently centered around a seemingly innocuous PDF file uploaded to a board that allowed such uploads. This PDF, however, contained malicious code written in PHP, which upon execution granted the attacker near-complete control over the system. The outdated nature of 4chan’s systems, seemingly untouched since at least 2014, is being cited as a major contributing factor to the successful hack.
The attacker’s methods seem remarkably simple, focusing on a well-known vulnerability in PDF handling.… Continue reading
Matt Underwood 
John Q. Hosedrinker