Ofcom's Melanie Dawes says some online safety fines may be unrecoverable if foreign courts intervene
OfcomOfcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes, giving evidence to the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Dawes tells MPs that Ofcom will not be able to recover every online safety fine, that there will be a point at which it must accept losing that money if foreign courts get in its way, and that it will still go as far as it can.
“We won't be able to recover every single fine on online safety. If foreign courts decide to try and get in our way, there will be a point at which we have to accept that we won't be able to recover that money. But we will always seek to go as far as we can.”
Original video
Where this statement fits
4chan lawyer Preston Byrne says Ofcom cannot enforce its fines in the United States
Preston Byrne, 4chan's lawyer, calls Ofcom's warning about foreign collection limits a practical defeat. Ofcom defends its UK safety duties and describes enforcement options. A U.S. court dismissed 4chan's challenge on immunity grounds without deciding a future collection case.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Official Parliament recording of the October 20, 2026 evidence session at which Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes and chair Sir Ian Cheshire answered questions from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Asked which penalties are outstanding and what Ofcom is doing to collect them, Dawes says 11 fines have been issued and nine are unpaid, and cites Ofcom's recovery of a fine from Star China Media.
After the quotation
She then says the fined companies have done what Ofcom wanted to protect the public.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to Ofcom's ability to collect its fines from overseas services such as 4chan, Dawes concedes that foreign courts could stop recovery while saying Ofcom will pursue fines as far as it can. Her position depends on what foreign courts do.
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The Dispute Index. "Ofcom's Melanie Dawes says some online safety fines may be unrecoverable if foreign courts intervene". First published: 2026-10-21. Last updated: 2026-10-21. https://disputeindex.com/events/6421-dawes-tells-mps-that-ofcom-will-not-be