Melanie Dawes
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Search complete. 19 mentions across 6 episodes found for "Melanie Dawes".
Oct 26, 2026
Scott WallaceHOST
That would place them on the same statutory footing as bullying and abuse content.
Scott WallaceHOST
This comes as Ofcom chief executive Melanie Dawes told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee last Tuesday that 11 fines have been issued since March last year.
Scott WallaceHOST
Two have been paid, one is under appeal, one is not yet overdue, and nine remain unpaid.
Scott WallaceHOST
The Online Safety Act passed in October 2023.
Shane KillianHOST
They finally admitted that they don't have jurisdiction over people in another country.
Shane KillianHOST
Imagine that! Ofcom chief executive Melanie Dawes said, quote, We won't be able to recover every single fine on online safety.
Shane KillianHOST
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.
Shane KillianHOST
They had tried to fine 4chan £520,000 plus £800 per additional day of non-compliance for violating the UK's Online Safety Act.
Mike RobinsonHOST
Well, here we are six months later, and Ofcom's chief executive has admitted to MPs that they are indeed unable to recover Online Safety Act fines from companies based abroad.
Mike RobinsonHOST
Uh, give, sh- giving evidence to the Commons Digital Culture, Media and Sport, uh, Committee, uh, yesterday, uh, Dame Melanie Dawes said that Ofcom had issued 11 fines under the act since March 2025.
Mike RobinsonHOST
Only two have been paid.
Mike RobinsonHOST
One is under appeal, one's not yet due, and that leaves nine outstanding.
Stuttering CraigHOST
So Ofcom is the UK's online safety regulatory, effectively admitting that it can't enforce the Online Safety Act fines against US-based platforms like 4chan.
Stuttering CraigHOST
So, uh, the CEO of Ofcom, Dame Melanie Dawes, said that the agency won't recover every fine, quote, "if foreign courts decide to try and get in our way." Okay? Uh, this follows a US federal court ruling in 4chan versus Ofcom that American courts are unlikely to enforce such foreign settlements, especially if they conflict with the First Amendment or are penal in nature.
Stuttering CraigHOST
Ofcom has no practical way to collect from a pure US-based site with no UK presence or assets.
Stuttering CraigHOST
So, uh, Ofcom, by the way, has sent orders to roughly 200 US platforms and, uh, uh, here's the thing.
Nick FerrariHOST
11 fines, 2 delivered.
Nick FerrariHOST
Back in March, I asked the chief executive, Dame Melanie Dawes, how many fines had been paid.
Nick FerrariHOST
We've had
Melanie DawesSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
one fine paid so far.
Nick FerrariHOST
so let's deal with this long-running story chronologically that's normally the best way to take you through what's been happening speaking earlier this week prime minister andy burnham indicated that we were going to get the green light about 10 minutes ago i
speaker_1NARRATOR
indicated that i would take a pragmatic approach when it comes to the north sea and that is my intention as we go forward from here there is a resource there when people are struggling you can't ignore that
Nick FerrariHOST
What about the business side? Neil McCulloch is chief executive at Adora, the joint firm set up by the energy giants Shell and Equinor to run Jaktor.
Nick FerrariHOST
He told LBC this decision could bring down energy bills.
Alicia McCarthyHOST
Now, the head of the media regulator Ofcom has told MPs that large numbers of teenagers may get around the forthcoming social media ban, some with their parents' help.
Alicia McCarthyHOST
But Dame Melanie Dawes said the ban might be effective in preventing younger children from going online.
Alicia McCarthyHOST
Here's David Cornock.
David CornockCORRESPONDENT
From March next year, under-16s will be banned from accessing social media such as TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook.
Caroline DinenageSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
I spoke to a group of teenagers the other day and they have zero bother about this new online ban because they all have already their plans in place to be able to circumvent it.
Caroline DinenageSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
How significant a challenge does circumvention pose to the effectiveness of this regime at all? Is it going to actually be worth the paper it's written on?
David CornockCORRESPONDENT
A question she put to Ofcom's chief executive, Dame Melanie Dawes.
Melanie DawesSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
For current teenagers who are already on social media and they know what they're doing and they've already got that as part of their lives, we may well see, as has happened in Australia, very large numbers of teenagers circumventing it through VPNs and their parents helping them in that.