Websites censored by Ofcom

4Chan

See article from en.wikipedia.org

4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. The site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, music, history, technology, anime, physical fitness, politics, and sports, porn, among others. Registration is not available, except for staff, and users typically post anonymously. 4chan receives more than 22 million unique monthly visitors, of whom approximately half are from the United States.

The website achieved a little notoriety in Donald Trump's first presidential term. The wesbite was identified for providing a voice to 'alt-right' (right leaning) Trump supporters who were otherwise silenced by an alliance of liberal internet companies and mainstream media outlets..

In June 2025 Ofcom announced that it was looking into censoring 4chn. Ofcom wrote:

Ofcom has launched investigations into whether seven file-sharing services, 4chan and porn provider First Time Videos have failed to comply with their duties under the UK's Online Safety Act. Duties under the Act

The Online Safety Act has introduced new rules to ensure online services take action to protect their UK users, especially children.

Sites that publish their own pornography must already have highly effective age checks in place to stop children accessing this material. Search and user-to-user services -- where people can see content shared by others, including social media -- should have assessed the risk of their UK users encountering illegal content and activity on their platforms, and must now be taking appropriate steps to protect them from it.

As well as engaging with large platforms about their new duties, our dedicated taskforce has been attempting to engage with a number of smaller sites that may present particular risks to users. Today we have opened investigations into a number of these services.

Specifically, we are investigating whether the providers of these services have failed to:

put appropriate safety measures in place to protect UK users from illegal content and activity; complete -- and keep a record of -- a suitable and sufficient illegal harms risk assessment; and respond to a statutory information request.

4chan hasn't made a statement about Ofcom's censorship. The website is still generally available in the UKbut is partially self censored. Attempting to reach the site via the home page results in a 403 error message (meaning that the user is unauthorised). However jumping into any other page (eg https://boards.4chan.org/news/) works without error.

 

Offsite Comment: Allowing British authorities to demand compliance from virtually any website.

See article from reclaimthenet.org

Ofcom has set its sights on 4chan, a US-hosted imageboard owned by a Japanese national. The site operates under US law and has no physical infrastructure, employees, or legal registration in Britain. Nonetheless, UK regulators have declared it fair game.

Wherever in the world a service is based if it has 'links to the UK', it now has duties to protect UK users, Ofcom insists.

That phrase, links to the UK, is intentionally vague and extraordinarily expensive, allowing British authorities to demand compliance from virtually any website.

This kind of extraterritorial overreach marks a direct threat to the principle of national sovereignty in internet governance. The UK is attempting to dictate the rules of online speech to foreign companies, hosted on foreign servers, and serving users in other countries, all because someone in Britain might visit their site.

According to Ofcom, 4chan failed to respond to its statutory information requests, making it one of nine services now under formal investigation.

What this law actually does is push platforms, especially smaller or independent ones, out of the UK entirely.

Rather than making the internet safer, the law is creating a digital iron curtain around the UK, where only government-approved content and services remain accessible.

BitChute

BitChute.com is a video sharing website that has provided a home for free speech campaigners and right leaning commentators. Something that does not go down well with the UK's internet censors and its government.

The website has decided to counter the authoritarian Online Safety Act by self blocking British users.

BitChute.com is still accessible by British internet users with a VPN.

BitChute explains on a the black screen that meets British viewers:

Due to what we view as ongoing harassment from Ofcom, as well as our unwillingness to cooperate with a regime we view as hostile to our values and principles, we have disabled all remaining comment access entirely for UK video creators.

After careful review and ongoing evaluation of the regulatory landscape in the United Kingdom, we regret to inform you that BitChute will be discontinuing its video sharing service for UK residents.

The introduction of the UK Online Safety Act of 2023 has brought about significant changes in the regulatory framework governing online content and community interactions. Notably, the Act contains sweeping provisions and onerous corrective measures with respect to content moderation and enforcement. In particular, the broad enforcement powers granted to the regulator of communication services, Ofcom, have raised concerns regarding the open-ended and unpredictable nature of regulatory compliance for our platform.

The BitChute platform has always operated on principles of freedom of speech, expression and association, and strived to foster an open and inclusive environment for content creators and audiences alike. However, the evolving regulatory pressures204including strict enforcement mechanisms and potential liabilities204have created an operational landscape in which continuing to serve the UK market exposes our company to unacceptable legal and compliance risks. Despite our best efforts to navigate these challenges, the uncertainty surrounding the OSA's enforcement by Ofcom and its far-reaching implications leaves us no viable alternative but to cease normal operations in the UK.

FTVGirls

First Time Video is pay site specialising in first time in porn sets. there are two websites, ftvgirls.com and ftvmilfs.com.

First time video repsonded to the ofcom censorship by taking away an introductory page describing the website content. British users are now met with just a subscription option to join the website as a paying member.

See article from ofcom.org.uk

In June 2025 Ofcom announced an investigation of the website saying:

We have launched an investigation into whether First Time Videos LLC, which provides the pornographic services FTVGirls.com and FTVMilfs.com, has highly effective age assurance in place to protect children from pornography.

We will now gather and analyse evidence to determine whether any contraventions have occurred. If our assessment indicates compliance failures, we will issue provisional notices of contravention to providers, who can then make representations on our findings, before we make our final decisions.

We will provide updates on these investigations as soon as possible.

gab

The US right leaning forum website gab.com has blocked internet users located in Britain since April 2025. UK users can now only see a landing page explaining that UK internet censorship laws are unacceptable to the free speech loving forum. The website explains its actions as follows:

ATTENTION: UK Visitor Detected

The following notice applies specifically to users accessing from the United Kingdom.

Access Restricted by Provider

After receiving yet another demand from the UK's speech police, Ofcom, Gab has made the decision to block the entire United Kingdom from accessing our website.

This latest email from Ofcom ordered us to disclose information about our users and operations. We know where this leads: compelled censorship and British citizens thrown in jail for hate speech. We refuse to comply with this tyranny.

Gab is an American company with zero presence in the UK. Ofcom's demands have no legal force here. To enforce anything in the United States, they'd need to go through a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request or letters rogatory. No U.S. court is going to enforce a foreign censorship regime. The First Amendment forbids it.

Ofcom will likely try to make an example of us anyway. That's because the UK's Online Safety Act isn't about protecting children. It's about suppressing dissent.

They're welcome to try. The idea that a British regulator can pressure a U.S. company that's IP-blocking the entire UK is as farcical as it is futile. If anything, it proves our point: censorship doesn't work. It only reveals the truth about the censors.

We proudly join platforms like Bitchute in boycotting the United Kingdom. American companies should follow suit. The power of the UK's parliament ends where the First Amendment begins.

The only way to vote against the tyranny of the UK's present regime is to walk away from it, refuse to comply, and take refuge under the impervious shelter of the First Amendment.

The UK's rulers want their people kept in the dark. Let them see how long the public tolerates it as their Internet vanishes, one website at a time.

 

Self blocking is OK with Ofcom who responded in a statement:

The Online Safety Act introduces new rules for providers of online user-to-user, search and pornography services, to help keep people in the UK safe from content which is illegal in the UK, and to protect children from the most harmful content such as pornography, suicide and self-harm material.

Wherever in the world a service is based, if it has links to the UK, it now has duties to protect UK users. This includes having a significant number of UK users, or that the UK is a target market. These rules will also apply to services that are capable of being used by individuals in the UK and which pose a material risk of significant harm to them.

The Act only requires that services take action to protect users based in the UK -- it does not require them to take action in relation to users based anywhere else in the world.

Ofcom believes its flexible approach to risk assessment and mitigation allows all services to take appropriate and proportionate steps to protect UK users from illegal content. Some services might seek to prevent users in the UK from accessing their sites or parts of their sites, instead of complying with the Act's requirements to protect UK users. That is their choice.

If a service restricts UK users' access, that action would need to be effective in order for the service to fall out of scope of the Act. The key test remains whether the service has links to the UK. This will depend on the specific circumstances (including whether it is still targeting UK users, for example, by promoting ways of evading access restrictions). Ofcom would assess whether a service is in scope on a case-by-case basis and, where the Act applies, would consider the service's compliance with the law and, where necessary, use our investigation and enforcement powers.

We recognise the breadth and complexity of the online safety rules and that there is a diverse range of services in scope.

New regulation can create uncertainty and navigating the requirements can be challenging. Ofcom is committed to working with providers to help them comply with the Online Safety Act and protect their users. We have therefore developed a range of tools and resources to make it easier for them to understand -- and comply with -- their obligations. We also recently published a guide to help small services navigate the Online Safety Act.

im.ge

Im.ge is a free Image Hosting. Promotional material reads: 

Upload Image & Share Upload images or photos and share it with friends and family for free. All images or photos are stored forever for free and comes with lifetime storage.

Ofcom opened an investigation in June 2025 saying:

We are investigating whether the providers of these services have failed to:

• put appropriate safety measures in place to protect UK users from illegal content and activity;

• complete -- and keep a record of -- a suitable and sufficient illegal harms risk assessment; and

• respond to a statutory information request.

Kiwi Farms

kiwiFarms.st is US web forum that facilitates the discussion and harassment of online figures and communities. Their targets are often subject to organized group trolling and stalking, as well as doxing and real-life harassment.

As of about March 2025, the website self blocks itself to UK users. UK users are presented with a splash screen explaining how Kiwi Farms are refusing to cooperate with Ofcom and how to access the website via VPNs or Tor:

You are accessing this website from the United Kingdom. This is not a good idea.

On March 26th, 2025, Ofcom (the Office of Communications) wrote us demanding from us a plan to implement their orwellian Online Safety Act.

The letter states the UK asserts authority over any website which has a significant number of United Kingdom users. This ambiguous metric could include any site on the Internet, and specifically takes aim at the people using a website instead of the website itself.

The situation in the UK is now so dire I fear for the safety of any user connecting to the Internet from the country.

You are in a speech-hostile country. Protect yourself.

Option A. Use a VPN

Option B. Use Tor

Krakenfiles

krakenfiles.com is a free file sharing website.

Ofcom opened an investigation in June 2025 saying:

We are investigating whether the providers of these services have failed to:

• put appropriate safety measures in place to protect UK users from illegal content and activity;

• complete -- and keep a record of -- a suitable and sufficient illegal harms risk assessment; and

• respond to a statutory information request.

Motherless

Motherless.com is a well known porn tube site that seems to feature a more diverse selection of videos than most with a little more user/amateur content, than is the norm.

The website is still operating and continues to allow open access.

Ofcom harassment

Ofcom writes of its actions on 14th May 2025:

Ofcom has launched two investigations into whether Kick Online Entertainment S.A has failed to comply with its duties under the UK's Online Safety Act. Duties under the Act

Providers of services in scope of the Act are required to assess the risk of people in the UK encountering illegal content on their service, and take appropriate steps to protect them from it.

Providers are also required to respond to all statutory information requests from Ofcom in an accurate, complete and timely way.

On 3 March 2025, we opened an enforcement programme to monitor whether providers are complying with their duties under the Act to carry out an illegal content risk assessment and keep appropriate records of their assessments. As part of this programme, we issued an information request to Kick Online Entertainment S.A, which is responsible for providing the pornography website Motherless.com. We required it to submit the record of its illegal content risk assessment to us so we could consider whether it is compliant with its duties.

Having received no response to our request, we have today launched investigations into whether this provider has failed in its duties to complete and keep a record of  a suitable and sufficient illegal content risk assessment and respond to a statutory information request.

We have received complaints about the potential for illegal content and activity on this site, including child sexual abuse material and extreme pornography. In light of this, we will also be considering whether the provider has put appropriate safety measures in place to protect its UK users from illegal content and activity and may launch an additional investigation into its compliance with this duty if appropriate

We will now gather and analyse evidence to determine whether a contravention has occurred. If our assessment indicates a compliance failure, we will issue a provisional notice of contravention to the provider, who can then make representations on our findings, before we make our final decision.

We will provide regular updates as these investigations progress.

Ofcom investigation closed

in July 2025 Ofcom wroute that it had received risk assessments about illegal content and so had closed its investigations about reporting requirements. This will not impact any further investigations on other topics such as child protection.

SanctionedSuicide

Sanctioned-Suicide.net is a discussion forum on the subject of suicide. In April 2025 the website published threatening letters from the UK internet censor Ofcom. From 1st July 2025 the website decided to self block UK users.

The website has been controversial for some time for several examples when child suicides have been connected to the website. perhaps it was invitable that it would figure in early Ofcom investigations under censorship powers enabled by the Online Safety Act.

Ofcom harassment

In April 2025, Ofcom announced:

Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether the provider of an online suicide forum has failed to comply with its duties under the UK's Online Safety Act.

This is the first investigation opened into an individual online service provider under these new laws. Specifically, we are investigating whether this provider has failed to:

put appropriate safety measures in place to protect its UK users from illegal content and activity; complete -- and keep a record of -- a suitable and sufficient illegal harms risk assessment; and adequately respond to a statutory information request.

Sanctioned Suicide responded with their own statement:

Here's the situation: On 8 April 2025, we received a formal letter from the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, informing us that they had officially opened an investigation into Sanctioned-Suicide.net under the UK's Online Safety Act 2023. While we typically do not comment on regulatory interactions, we feel it is necessary to inform the community of what is happening and how we are responding.

In their opening letter, Ofcom claims we may have failed to comply with the following obligations under the Online Safety Act:

• Section 9: Conducting and keeping records of an illegal content risk assessment
• Section 10: Taking proactive safety measures to mitigate harm from priority illegal content
• Sections 20 & 21: Providing clear reporting and complaint mechanisms
• Section 23: Maintaining adequate documentation
• Section 102(8): Responding to an information notice

Their justification for opening this investigation is their belief that some UK residents may still be able to access the site, despite ISP-level blocks, and that content on the platform may present a risk of harm to those users.

Our Legal Position: No Jurisdiction

We have made it absolutely clear to Ofcom: Sanctioned-Suicide.net is not within the scope of UK law. Their continued insistence on jurisdiction is legally indefensible and raises serious concerns about regulatory overreach. To clarify:

1. We are a U.S.-based platform. We have no offices, infrastructure, or staff in the UK.
2. We are not commercially active in the UK. We generate no revenue from UK users and do not advertise or market our services there.
3. Access from the UK is already severely restricted, with most major UK ISPs blocking access due to political pressure.
4. We do not target the UK under any meaningful interpretation of the law.

Their standard -- that a site being capable of being accessed in the UK constitutes a jurisdictional link -- is dangerously broad. Under that logic, any site on the global internet could fall under Ofcom's purview, regardless of whether it targets the UK or not. This is not only unsustainable -- it flies in the face of international legal norms and principles of digital sovereignty.

Self blocked in the UK

From 1st July 2025 Sanctioned Suicide decided to block access to UK users; The website explains:

UK Access Block Notice: Beginning July 1, 2025, this site will no longer be accessible from the United Kingdom. This is a voluntary decision made by the site's administrators. We were not forced or ordered to implement this block. If you're located in the UK, we recommend using a VPN to maintain access.

Scoreland

Scoreland.com is pay site for porn featuring busty models.

The website has responded to the Ofcom censorship by blocking explicit content to non-paying customers. The payment process implements age verification but the website provides no clarity as to what this entails.

Ofcom writes of its actions in May 2025:

Ofcom has commenced investigations into two pornographic services - Itai Tech Ltd and Score Internet Group LLC - under our age assurance enforcement programme.

Under the Online Safety Act, online services must ensure children cannot access pornographic content on their sites. In January, we wrote to online services that display or publish their own pornographic content to explain that the requirements for them to have highly effective age checks in place to protect children had come into force. We requested details of services' plans for complying, along with an implementation timeline and a named point of contact.

Certain services failed to respond to our request and have not taken any steps to implement highly effective age assurance to protect children from pornography.

We are today opening investigations into Score Internet Group LLC, which runs the site Scoreland.com. The site appearsr to have no highly effective age assurance in place and are potentially in breach of the Online Safety Act and their duties to protect children from pornography.

We will provide an update on both investigations on our website in due course, along with details of any further investigations launched under this enforcement programme

Update: Low Scores

2nd July 2025. See article from ofcom.org.uk

Ofcom has closed its investigation of scoreland.com after the website introduced age/ID verification. The website now requires that UK users subscribe using a credit card (no debit cards) before content can be viewed. Visitors from other countries can see teaser images and can pay via several other options.

Ofcom writes:

In response to our investigation, Score Internet Group LLC have taken steps to implement highly effective age assurance to ensure compliance with their duties under Part 5 of the OSA.

As such, Ofcom is satisfied that the conduct that led to the opening of the investigation has ceased and we do not consider it appropriate to continue our investigation. We have therefore closed it without making any findings as to Score Internet's compliance with its duties, either currently or prior to its confirmation that it had taken steps to comply with the OSA.

Undress.cc

Undress.cc is a nudification website where users can submit a clothed image and receive the unclothed estimation.

The website decided to respond to Ofcom's censorship by blocking all users with a UK IP address. The website is still available to users with a VPN.

Ofcom writes of its actions in May 2025:

Ofcom has commenced investigations into two pornographic services - Itai Tech Ltd and Score Internet Group LLC - under our age assurance enforcement programme.

Under the Online Safety Act, online services must ensure children cannot access pornographic content on their sites. In January, we wrote to online services that display or publish their own pornographic content to explain that the requirements for them to have highly effective age checks in place to protect children had come into force. We requested details of services' plans for complying, along with an implementation timeline and a named point of contact.

Certain services failed to respond to our request and have not taken any steps to implement highly effective age assurance to protect children from pornography.

 We are opening investigations into Itai Tech Ltd - a service which runs the nudification site Undress.cc which appears to have no highly effective age assurance in place and are potentially in breach of the Online Safety Act and their duties to protect children from pornography.

We will provide an update on both investigations on our website in due course, along with details of any further investigations launched under this enforcement programme