Britain's regulators fined an American website $1.3 million for speech that is completely legal in the United States.
Now foreign governments from London to Brussels are lining up to do the same thing to every American platform that won't bow.
A Republican congressman just introduced a bill that turns the tables on every globalist censor coming after American speech.
UK Online Safety Act Sent 197 Censorship Notices to American Companies
Britain's communications regulator, Ofcom, quietly sent 197 enforcement notices to businesses with American addresses between February 2025 and April 2026.
None of them went through the US-UK Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty – the diplomatic channel that exists precisely for cross-border law enforcement.
Ofcom just emailed them.
Most American companies folded without a fight.
The ones that didn't are learning what it costs to hold the line. Ofcom hit an American mental health and suicide discussion forum with a £950,000 fine – roughly $1.3 million – for hosting speech protected by the First Amendment, on servers that never touched British soil.
The site had already voluntarily blocked British visitors as a goodwill gesture. Ofcom fined it anyway.
The site has not paid. Under American law, it owes nothing. But Ofcom isn't done – regulators in London are now lobbying for expanded powers to reach even further into American territory.
Gab CEO Andrew Torba received a formal threat letter warning of potential UK prison time for running his social media platform.
The UK's Online Safety Act gives Ofcom the power to fine companies up to £18 million or 10 percent of worldwide revenue, whichever is higher. Senior managers of non-compliant American companies face criminal charges and up to two years in a British prison.
The HOMEFRONT Act Lets Americans Sue Foreign Governments for Censoring Their Speech
On September 8th, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) introduced the Halting Overseas Mandates from Extraterritorially Reaching Onto National Territory Act – the HOMEFRONT Act.
The bill does several things that current law cannot.
No American court could recognize or enforce a foreign censorship order against speech protected by the First Amendment.
US government agencies would be barred from cooperating with foreign governments investigating Americans for constitutionally protected expression.
Extradition of Americans for violating foreign censorship laws would be prohibited outright.
And any American targeted by a foreign censor could sue that foreign government in a US federal court for $25,000 in damages plus attorney's fees.
"Foreign governments have no business policing the speech of American citizens," Davidson said in announcing the bill. "No American should ever have to answer to a foreign censor for exercising rights guaranteed by our Constitution."
NetChoice Vice President of Government Affairs Amy Bos backed the legislation on introduction, arguing the bill shields Americans from extradition and blocks US courts from enforcing foreign censorship judgments against protected speech.
The HOMEFRONT Act is part of a growing wave of foreign censorship shield legislation moving through Congress – two bills built on the same legal framework are now before the House Judiciary Committee at the same time.
Jim Jordan Documented the Foreign Censorship Threat for Two Years Before This Bill Arrived
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan released an interim report in February 2026 cataloguing foreign regulatory actions against American companies across Europe, Brazil, and South Korea.
South Korea's regulators hit US-owned Coupang with a record $410 million fine. The European Union levies penalties up to 6 percent of global revenue against non-compliant American platforms under the Digital Services Act.
Brazil has threatened American social media companies for refusing to suppress political speech that is lawful in the United States.
"When it comes to the technology companies, it's censorship as well – limiting what can be said in Europe ultimately impacts what we can say in America," Jordan told Just the News.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio moved first on the diplomatic front in May 2025, announcing visa restrictions against foreign officials responsible for censoring Americans abroad. The Trump administration followed in August 2025 by directing US diplomats across Europe to lobby for repeal or amendment of the EU's Digital Services Act.
The HOMEFRONT Act would give American citizens the legal tools to match that diplomatic pressure.
Davidson's bill would also require the Attorney General to submit an annual report to Congress tracking foreign censorship attempts, compliance costs, and whether existing treaty arrangements still serve American interests.
A public database maintained by the Federal Trade Commission would document every instance of US speech targeted by foreign law – putting the full scope of the censorship campaign on record for the first time.
Foreign governments spent a year counting on Americans to fold quietly and pay the fines.
Davidson just made that bet a lot more expensive.
Sources:
- Rep. Warren Davidson, "Davidson Introduces Bill to Block Enforcement of Foreign Censorship Orders Against Americans," davidson.house.gov, September 8, 2026.
- "Digital Regulations in Foreign Countries Are Exporting Their Censorship Laws, Lawmakers Say," Just the News, July 13, 2026.
- Dan Frieth, "HOMEFRONT Act Would Let Americans Challenge Foreign Censorship Orders," Reclaim the Net, September 9, 2026.
