Ofcom has opened formal investigations into online discussion board 4chan and seven file-sharing services – Im.ge, Krakenfiles, Nippybox, Nippydrive, Nippyshare, Nippyspace and Yolobit. Ofcom has not received responses to its statutory information requests, to which services are legally required to respond. It also says that it has received complaints about the potential for illegal content and activity on 4chan, and possible sharing of child sexual abuse material on the file-sharing services.
Specifically, Ofcom is 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.
Ofcom has also 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.
Ofcom will now gather and analyse evidence to determine whether any contraventions have occurred. If its assessment indicates compliance failures, it will issue provisional notices of contravention to providers, who can then make representations on Ofcom’s findings, before it makes its final decisions. It says that it will provide updates on these investigations as soon as possible.
Ofcom expects to make additional announcements on formal enforcement action over the coming months, particularly with further duties coming into force under the Act.
