Prevent Britain and Ofcom's Attempts to Regulate Americans' Speech

Congress needs to act now to block Ofcom's attempt to impose British speech law on American websites. The UK's communications regulator has fined SaSu, an American mental health forum, £950,000 under its Online Safety Act — for hosting legal speech on American servers. SaSu even voluntarily geoblocked UK users in July 2025, and Ofcom publicly accepted that. Then, under lobbying pressure from campaign groups, Ofcom reversed course, opened an investigation, and issued a fine that SaSu's attorney Preston Byrne correctly states "carries no force in the United States." The conduct here is worse than overreach. Ofcom's own NGO partner, the Mental Health Foundation, used a VPN to bypass SaSu's geoblock and create account credentials — evidence Ofcom then used against the site. Ofcom also bypassed the UK-US Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty entirely, serving all 197 enforcement notices by email. This is not a good-faith regulatory process. It is a foreign government using manufactured access to prosecute American speech it dislikes. The geopolitical stakes are real. If Britain can fine American websites for content accessible within its borders, Saudi Arabia can fine American LGBTQ+ publications, and China can fine American news outlets for covering Tiananmen. That precedent cannot stand. Please use every available tool — diplomatic, legislative, and legal — to make clear that the First Amendment is not subject to foreign regulatory override.