4chan

[[File:4chanLogo.jpg|165px|right|thumb|4chan's clover logo with leaves that symbolize not luck nor love, but a bunch of asses coalescing into one.]]
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{{cquote|You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.|||Obi Wan Kenobi}}
{{cquote|Any community that gets its laughs by pretending to be idiots will eventually be flooded by actual idiots who mistakenly believe they are in good company.|||[[DarkShikari's Theorem]] (and moot<ref>moot (April 3, 2014). [http://archive.today/2024.02.29-171746/https://warosu.org/jp/thread/12014966%23p12016156#selection-20585.0-20585.8 Post #12016156 on /jp/]. 4chan, via Warosu archive.</ref>)}}
{{cquote|[A] message-board whose lunatic, juvenile community is at once brilliant, ridiculous and alarming.|||Sean Michaels, ''The Guardian''<ref>{{a|https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/mar/19/news|Taking the Rick}}, ''The Guardian''</ref>}}

'''4chan.org''' is a 
hacker
<ref>[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-hacker-known-as-4chan The hacker known as 4chan]</ref> far-right imageboard modeled on the popular Japanese imageboard 2chan ({{wpl|Futaba Channel}}) (although an earlier, similarly named, and equally far-right imageboard named {{wpl|2channel}} does exist) initially intended for anime discussion. However, its anonymous and ephemeral nature soon made it into a chaotic and influential hub of Internet culture that has produced innumerable [[meme]]s, pranks, raids, and controversies. 4chan created the [[Anonymous]] meme, spread the shitfest known as [[Gamergate]], enabled the [[alt-right]] movement, and aided numerous other [[:Category:Right-wing troll campaigns|right-wing troll campaigns]].

==Technique==
A frequent technique on 4chan was the use offensive humor that could be difficult to distinguish between irony and sincerity. This form of humor over time tends to change some people's attitudes from being offended to accepting as humor to accepting it as belief.<ref name=reeve>''Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics'' by Elle Reeve (2024) ISBN 1982198893.</ref>{{rp|112-113}} This behavior in combination with the general alt-right opposition to [[Alt-right glossary#Countersignal|countersignaling]] (criticizing people further to the right of oneself),<ref name=reeve/> leads people toward a downward spiral.

==Scope==
In April 2019, 4chan received 69 million views (rank 482 globally) according to SimilarWeb<ref>{{a|https://www.similarweb.com/website/4chan.org|SimilarWeb}}</ref> and 63 million (rank 1055) according to Alexa.<ref>{{a|https://web.archive.org/web/20160901210052/http://www.rank2traffic.com/4chan.org|Rank2Traffic}}</ref> Google Trends shows plateauing searches for "4chan" since 2009 or so.<ref>[https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=4chan,pol,4chan%20pol Google Trends]</ref>

==Administration==
{{wpl|Christopher Poole}} (aka "moot") founded 4chan in 2003.<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121564928060441097 Modest Web Site Is Behind a Bevy of Memes], ''The Wall Street Journal''</ref> Citing stress from [[Gamergate]],<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/4chans-overlord-christopher-poole-reveals-why-he-walked-away-93894/ 4chan’s Overlord Christopher Poole Reveals Why He Walked Away], ''Rolling Stone</ref> Poole stepped down as site admin on January 26, 2015,<ref>[https://archive.ph/VEK4G News], ''4chan''</ref> and was hired by [[Google]] in 2016.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35751255 Google hires creator of notorious 4chan forum], ''BBC''</ref> A team of volunteers assumed control of the site until September 21, 2015, when 2channel founder {{wpl|Hiroyuki Nishimura}} (aka "gookmoot" or "mootwo") purchased 4chan.<ref>[https://archive.ph/D6dCS News], ''4chan''</ref> When asked how, he said "I borrowed money."<ref name=at2022>[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/05/who-owns-4chan/ Who owns 4chan?], Ars Technica, May 29, 2022</ref>

In October 2016, Nishimura reported that 4chan was facing ongoing financial difficulties, given that its advertising revenue was unable to offset the significant costs of operation.<ref>[https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/4chan-could-soon-be-shutdown-as-the-internets-most-notorious-community-goes-broke/news-story/17786695919e39682a2de307b152cfb2 4chan could soon be shutdown as the Internet’s most notorious community goes broke], ''news.com.au''</ref> On November 17 2018, Nishimura announced that he would move the boards considered "Safe for Work" to 4channel.org, effectively splitting the site in two.<ref>[https://www.archived.moe/qa/thread/2421255 HIRO WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING], ''4chan''</ref> This allowed it to carry mainstream advertising on 4channel (or at least [[cryptocurrency]] ads), while the X-rated 4chan carried porn advertising.<ref name=at2022/>

Moderation is notoriously loose at 4chan; particularly on boards like /pol/, expect unhinged ethnic slur laden [[racism]], calls for [[race war|race wars]] and other forms of violence, and other noxious content that most other [[social media]] would drop the banhammer on instantly.<ref name="4chanmods">[https://www.wired.com/story/4chan-moderation-buffalo-shooting/ "Inside 4chan’s Top-Secret Moderation Machine"] by Justin Ling, Wired, 2023 June 5</ref> Despite 4chan in its early days organizing raids on the notorious [[neo-Nazi]] forum [[Stormfront]], reportedly one of the reasons Poole sold 4chan was because his website had effectively ''become'' Stormfront.<ref name="4chanmods"/> Since the 2010s, one of the head moderators, or "janitors" of 4chan has been "RapeApe", whose moderation ethos has been to steer the rest of 4chan towards the extremist [[bigotry]] and violent hatred of /pol/.<ref name="ViceRapeApe">[https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7aap8/the-man-who-helped-turn-4chan-into-the-internets-racist-engine "The Man Who Helped Turn 4chan Into the Internet's Racist Engine"] by Rob Arthur, Vice, 2020 November 2</ref>

In 2021, it emerged that 4chan was partly owned by {{w|Good Smile Company||,}} a Japanese company that also sold licensed merchandise and figurines for major entertainment franchises such as Winnie the Pooh, Batman, and Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as erotic figurines of underage anime girls.<ref>[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-business-4chan-1235017475/ Hollywood’s Curious 4Chan Connection], ''Hollywood Reporter'', September 22, 2021</ref>

==Notable events==
Throughout its history, 4chan has attracted controversy and media attention. Some of the more notable events include:

* Starting in late 2005 and lasting well into July 2006, readers of /b/ began performing "raids" on the online game {{wpl|Habbo Hotel}} in an attempt to disrupt and annoy other users. Participants of the raids would join the game and create a player avatar depicting a black man with a large afro in a gray suit (a design known as the "nigra"). They would proceed to block in-game entrances to various features (such as swimming pools, which they said were "closed due to [[AIDS]]"), crowd rooms, and even arrange themselves in [[swastika]] formations. Any raiders who were banned would then accuse the game's moderation team of banning them due to their avatar's race.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriotic_Nigras#Habbo_Hotel</ref> These raids would set the tone for future activities.
* In October 2006, Jake Brahm posted numerous bomb threats against the NFL on 4chan, provoking tightened security at games. Brahm then came forward and said he did not intend for the posts to be taken seriously. He was taken into custody and was sentenced to six months in prison, followed by six months under house arrest and a $26,000 restitution payment in 2008.<ref>http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3639301</ref>
* From December 2006 to January 2007, 4chan organized DDoS attacks and prank calls on [[Hal Turner]]'s radio show, causing him to owe his internet providers thousands of dollars. Turner then unsuccessfully sued 4chan.<ref>https://dockets.justia.com/docket/new-jersey/njdce/2:2007cv00306/198438</ref> It's interesting to note how 4chan users at this time were organizing '''against''' white supremacists.{{efn|That is, before [[Stormfront]]'s "BUGS"/Swarmfront program succeeded in colonizing the website.<ref name="BeranSA">Dale Beran (2019). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/It_Came_from_Something_Awful/u31zDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=stormfront "It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump Into Office"]. ''St. Martin's Publishing Group''.</ref> By 2010, moot had to reckon with the fact that /new/ had become "/stormfront/".<ref>Justin Ling (June 5, 2023). [https://www.wired.com/story/4chan-moderation-buffalo-shooting/ "Inside 4chan's Top-Secret Moderation Machine"]. ''Wired''.</ref><ref name="mootstormfront">{{cite web |author=Poole |first=Christopher "moot"|date=19 January 2011 |title=Why were /r9k/ and /new/ removed? |url=https://archive.today/20110820154606/http://content.4chan.org/tmp/r9knew.txt|publisher=4chan}}</ref>}}
* Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV ran an infamous story on 4chan in July 2007, delivered in a typical sensationalist fashion and complete with [[non-sequitur]] footage of a van exploding.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20080522123812/http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3894628&version=7&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1</ref>
* In September 2007, a high school student posted images of himself with alleged pipe bombs to 4chan, claiming he would blow up his school. 4chan users tracked him down and contacted the police; he was arrested, and it was discovered the bombs were in fact toys.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20071011204907/http://kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=7058267</ref>
* In December 2007, a man was arrested after making posts on 4chan claiming he was planning a killing spree. He died before proceedings took place.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/12/08/australian-police-arrest-man-who-threatened-to-attack-los-angeles-mall.html</ref>
* 4chan posters were among those associated with the "[[Church of Scientology#The Internets v. Scientology|Project Chanology]]" campaign against the [[Church of Scientology]].
* In late 2008, a /b/ user hacked [[Sarah Palin]]'s private email account following criticism of her alleged use of private accounts to conduct government work. The hacker posted her password on /b/ and sent screenshots of emails to [[WikiLeaks]]. After too many people logged into her account, it was automatically suspended by Yahoo!. The [[FBI]] and Secret Service then conducted a brief investigation into the hacking.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20080920105947/http://theridiculant.metro.co.uk/2008/09/sarah-palins-em.html</ref>
* In February 2009, a 4chan poster threatened to commit a school shooting in [[Sweden]]. The school was evacuated, and 4chan posters helped police track the poster down. He would later claim the post was a joke, and was not charged due to lack of evidence.<ref>http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/sverige/svensk-skole-evakueres-etter-trusler/a/557871/</ref>
* In November 2010, a man was arrested for posting child pornography and death threats on 4chan.<ref>http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/internet/another-4chan-user-gets-busted-fbi</ref>
* In January 2011, a man was sentenced to 45 days in prison for [[cyberbullying]] people on 4chan.<ref>http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/4chan/face-behind-name-meet-matthew-riskin-bean-convicted-4chan-cyberstalker</ref>
* In February 2011, a Marine was arrested for downloading child pornography from 4chan.<ref>http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/child-pornography/4chan-fan-sentenced-648293</ref>
* Another man was arrested for downloading child pornography from 4chan in April 2011.<ref>http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/child-pornography/4chan-child-porn-bust-657210</ref>
* In May 2011, a man was arrested for selling counterfeit coupons through 4chan.<ref>http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/internet/fbi-busts-4chan-man-extreme-couponing-098561</ref>
* In June 2011, a teenage boy who posted child pornography on 4chan was arrested.<ref>http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/internet/feds-raid-boys-home-over-4chan-child-porn-post</ref>
* In February 2012, a man was arrested for making [[Facebook]] posts claiming to possess child pornography. He told police he had downloaded the pornography from /b/.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20170316183443/https://ia902706.us.archive.org/29/items/gov.uscourts.mied.267305/gov.uscourts.mied.267305.1.0.pdf</ref>
* In August 2012, 4chan users flooded a poll for the name of the new Mountain Dew flavor, submitting names such as "Granny Gushers" and "[[Hitler]] Did Nothing Wrong".<ref>http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/14/mountain-dews-dub-the-dew-online-poll-goes-horribly-wrong/</ref>
* In November 2013, a student at the University of Guelph calling himself "Steven" posted his intent to commit suicide on /b/, and invited readers to watch him perform the act on a livestream as a way to "give back to the community". He was rescued by emergency workers after setting his dorm room on fire as part of the attempt, and would later plead guilty to arson charges.<ref>https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/guelph-webcam-suicide-attempt-student-pleads-guilty-to-arson-1.2142098</ref>
* In January 2014, Facebook posts made by a man threatening to bomb his old school were posted to 4chan. 4chan posters tracked the man down and contacted police, who had already arrested him.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20140127020622/http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/Teen-Arrested-for-Threatening-to-Blow-Up-School-241452621.html</ref>
* In August 2014, a security compromise at iCloud resulted in the release of several nude images of female celebrities that were initially posted to 4chan. This prompted a change of policy, allowing copyright owners of images to request their removal from 4chan and the banning of the users who had posted them.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29061358</ref>
* Also in August 2014, the [[Gamergate]] controversy began on boards such as /b/, /r9k/, and /v/.
* In November 2014, a man in Washington strangled a woman to death and posted images of her corpse to 4chan. He surrendered to police the same day.<ref>http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/4chan-murder-suspect-david-kalac-surrenders-oregon-n241806</ref>
* In 2015 and 2016, users of 4chan's /pol/ board and various [[8chan]] boards became known for their support of [[Donald Trump]]'s presidential campaign, presumably due to their mutual appreciation of [[far-right]] politics and juvenile, incendiary behavior. Users on both sites organized numerous cyberbullying attacks on Trump's opponents and their supporters, mostly through [[Twitter]]. [[Hillary Clinton]]'s campaign and the [[Anti-Defamation League]] acknowledged the existence of these pro-Trump trolls and labeled the [[Pepe the Frog|Pepe]] meme as a hate symbol.<ref>[https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/pepe-the-frog Pepe the Frog], adl.org.</ref> This event was acknowledged by more mainstream Trump supporters, many of whom adopted the Pepe meme themselves. For their part, the ADL redacted their statements and announced they would be working with the cartoonist behind Pepe to create more positive depictions of him.<ref>http://fantagraphics.com/flog/truthaboutpepe/</ref> This acknowledgment by the political mainstream seems to have gotten to the heads of many /pol/ users, with many believing they are directly responsible for Trump's success with "meme magic", and that they are in turn being directed by the [[Ancient Egypt|ancient Egyptian]] god Kek.<ref>https://pepethefrogfaith.wordpress.com/</ref>
* In October 2016, Nishimura announced that financial difficulties could result in 4chan shutting down in the near future.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/10/04/4chan-is-facing-collapse-but-not-for-the-reasons-you-think/?utm_term=.9a7071f4539a 4chan is facing collapse, but not for the reasons you think]. Washington Post, 4 October 2016.</ref><ref>[http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/05/technology/4chan-shutting-down/ 4chan, a popular hub for offensive posts, shows signs of distress]. money.cnn.com, 5 October 2016.</ref> Oh no, now where will I shitpost and waste my time? If 4chan is lost, how much of value will be lost?
* During the 2017 Berkeley protests, video surfaced of an antifa/anarchist supporter striking a man in the head with a bike lock, resulting in significant injuries. /pol/ responded by tracking the attacker down within a day of the video surfacing and forwarding the evidence to the police. The man, a former community college professor, was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon (having also attacked at least two other) and eventually sentenced to three years' probation.<ref>[https://youtu.be/muoR8Td44UE The Bikelock Fugitive of Berkeley]. Internet Historian, YouTube, 10 May 2017.</ref>
*On November 2018, Nishimura announced that the SFW boards would be moved to 4channel.org to bring back advertisers that left due to its site's controversial content. He also announced changes that would allow users to report offensive behavior not covered until the split (most notably, racism outside of /b/ and /pol/).<ref>https://www.archived.moe/qa/thread/2421255</ref>
*In April 2025, the site was taken down for about ten days following a hack.<ref>Connor Jones (April 28, 2025). [https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/28/4chan_back_onlin/ "Back online after 'catastrophic' attack, 4chan says it's too broke for good IT"]. ''The Register''.</ref><ref>(April 25, 2025). [https://blog.4chan.org/post/781845918774394880/still-standing "Still standing"]. 4chan Blog.</ref> The hack was perpetrated by a user from a rival imageboard themed around soyjak{{efn|Originally a {{w|Wojak}} variant that mocked "[[soy boy]]s", a wide variety of [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/soy-boy-face-soyjak/children derivatives] have been created.}} memes, with one of the original points of contention being that the 4chan moderators shuttered the meta-discussion imageboard /qa/, on which soyjak memes previously thrived.<ref>Matthew Gault (April 15, 2025). [https://www.404media.co/4chan-is-down-following-what-looks-to-be-a-major-hack-spurred-by-meme-war/ "4chan Is Down Following What Looks to Be a Major Hack Spurred By Meme War"]. ''404 Media''.</ref> As a result of this hack, 4chan's source code and the personal information of many moderators were leaked.<ref>Matt Burgess and Lily Hay Newman (April 15, 2025). [https://www.wired.com/story/2025-4chan-hack-admin-leak/ "Suspected 4chan Hack Could Expose Longtime, Anonymous Admins"]. ''Wired''.</ref>

==Notable boards==
[[File:Paper bag mask with 4chan smiley at Anon raid.jpg|thumb|right|165px|A protester with a 4chan bag on her head at a 2008 Anonymous "raid"]]
4chan hosts dozens of imageboards covering several topics, ranging from the original anime board (/a/), sports (/sp/) and even DIY (/diy/). Each board is given a directory designation ranging from one to four characters in length. Users of particular boards are often referred to with board-specific demonyms, often self-deprecating. For instance, readers of the /tg/ (Traditional and Tabletop Games) board are called fa/tg/uys, while posters in the /fa/ (Fashion) board are known as /fa/ggots.

The background color of the boards themselves serves as a method of showing if adult content is permissible to post. Boards with a blue background are meant to be work-safe, although things slip by depending on the attentiveness and tolerance of the mods on duty ("Mods are asleep, post X!" is a common joke). Boards with a beige background allow for the posting of explicit content, as long as it stays on topic with the board's subject matter. Most often, these are the boards meant for sharing erotica, but there are exceptions.

===/b/ — Random===
/b/ is the board that most people historically thought of when they heard "4chan",{{efn|If you're a politically-oblivious [[Fun:Millennials|Millennial]] or some such, perhaps it even still is.}} and used to be the most active board of the whole site until /pol/ took that over. It is infamous for having a policy of "anything goes", provided that the posted content is not illegal and does not violate any of the site's universal rules. While child pornography is the biggest no-no, cartoon depictions of sex with children are still common. Tasteless content (i.e. [[Racism|racism]], [[Misogyny|misogyny]], extreme gore, [[Pornography|extreme porn]], animal abuse, and -phobic hate of virtually every prefix under the sun) is the order of the day and is not for the easily offended. Most of the memes and activities that 4chan became known for in its first decade originated in /b/. Readers of the board refer to each other as "/b/tards" or "fags". The [[usenet]] group alt.tasteless was an early source of internet [[trolling]], as well as a precursor of sorts to /b/.<ref>[https://gizmodo.com/the-first-internet-troll-1652485292 The Birth of the Internet Troll] by Ashley Feinberg (10/30/14 3:36pm) ''Gizmodo''.</ref>

===/v/ — Video games===
4chan's first and largest board is dedicated to [[video game|video games]], where posters are known as "/v/irgins". For a time, it was the largest, fastest-moving board. This got so bad that some threads would reach the post limit in just a few minutes. This lead to /v/ birthing several child boards, including /vg/ for video game generals, /vp/ for Pokémon, and /vr/ for retro games. Several users actually came together and produced the surprisingly tasteful {{wpl|visual novel}} ''Katawa Shoujo'' in 2012, which was based on a one-page concept image from a {{wpl|doujinshi}} manga.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20081210035836/http://www.katawa-shoujo.com/staff.php</ref> /v/ is generally disliked by many 4channers due to its tendency to leak into other boards, along with its habit of varying between being incredibly bland and being full of derailed threads (when they're on topic at all). /v/ is also infamous for their strong dislike in the majority of newly released video games.  Nintendo and other Japanese games are liked by users on /v/ mainly for their nicheness, while Sony and most Western Playstation games are disliked on /v/ due to progressive political views expressed by the developers.  Outside of 4chan, it's infamous for being one of the three spawning grounds of [[GamerGate]], one of the others being…

===/pol/ — Politically incorrect===
[[File:4chan pol logo.png|thumb|right|165px|Perhaps "politically incorrect" is an understatement.]]
'''Background and predecessors'''

A cesspool of hate, this board was born out of /b/ and the earlier (and now-deleted, but recently resurrected) /news/ (formerly /new/{{efn|After moot deleted /new/, part of its community also resided for a time on 4chon, a now-dead imageboard.<ref>[https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/4chan_Chronicle/4chon "4chan Chronicle/4chon"]. ''Wikibooks''.</ref>}}) imageboard, which were oversaturated with [[conspiracy]] nuts and [[White nationalism|white nationalists]]; that came to be the case in part because of raids from [[Stormfront]], which operated a "Swarmfront" subforum (see: [[Stormfront#"Mein Führer! I can shitpost!"|Stormfront § "Mein Führer! I CAN SHITPOST!"]]) for spreading their beliefs onto other websites.<ref name="BeranSA"/> In example, one suggestion on such a Stormfront thread about 4chan said: "We will have an army of angry [[Argumentum ad cellarium|basement dwelling neckbeards]] to fill the internet with our message 24/7."<ref>(October 2012). [https://web.archive.org/web/20220827080133/https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t922140/#post10703687 "Re: Waking up 4chan"]. ''[[Stormfront]]'', via the Wayback Machine.</ref> 4chan was not wholly unaware of these raids (they were after all, somewhat retaliatory<ref name="BeranSA"/>): m00t himself commented that the previous board, /new/, had "devolved into /stormfront/".<ref name="mootstormfront"/> It would be reductionist to suggest the constant raids from Stormfront were the only element though: the site's prior indulgence in causing offense combined with its foray into "serious" activism with [[Church of Scientology#The Internets v. Scientology|Project Chanology]]{{efn|Which always had its own detractors, casting the project as a bunch of "moralfags" ([[morality|moralist]]s) or "protestfags" who unironically believed "the Internet is serious business", a phrase long repeated sarcastically on Internet forums.<ref name="BeranSA"/>}} might have helped this chain of events along. In the end, everybody got tired of their shit and moot set up /pol/ as a new containment board.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ED9XDwAAQBAJ&dq=%224chan%22+%22/pol/%22&pg=PT1634 |title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet |date=2018 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-5264-5043-2}}</ref>{{rp|719}} ([[8chan|Sound familiar?]]) That and people had their fill of [[anus]] pictures side by side with news posts.

'''Beliefs and campaigns'''

/pol/ is 4chan's political board, filled with [[White supremacy|white supremacists]] (some of them overt, some feigning [[irony]] for recruitment), [[neo-Nazis]], [[Neoreactionary movement|neoreactionaries]], [[alt-right]]ers, and [[troll]]s who just pretend to be white supremacists — [[poe's law| though it can be quite difficult to tell the difference]]. It's so extremist that it honestly makes [[Metapedia]] look progressive. Along with Gamergate, "/pol/acks" have also started various [[redpill]]ing campaigns on [[Twitter]]. The general thrust of the movement is promoting a hysterical "war on masculinity", buying ad space to post messages urging [[transgender]] people to commit [[suicide]],<ref> http://mic.com/articles/118862/trolls-are-paying-twitter-to-promote-hate-speech-and-there-s-nothing-stopping-them</ref> or just trying to make [[feminists]] and other activists [[Poisoning the Well|look foolish]] (most notably with the "#EndFathersDay" [[false flag]] campaign).<ref>http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/4chan-end-fathers-day/</ref> The Gamergate hashtag "#NotYourShield", meant to show that Gamergate was not ''just'' made up of angry white kids, was also [[Friend argument|concocted]] on /pol/.

The consensus among /pol/ is that the establishment is [[Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white|anti-white]], [[Men's rights movement|feminist/anti-male]], [[International Jewish conspiracy|Jewish-controlled]] (Judeo-capitalism-communism), [[Xenophobia|globalist]], and [[Red-baiting|Marxist]]. They'll rally behind anyone who opposes the "[[degenerate]]" 
because they are nazis
 (a term they [[Modern art and architecture#Degenerate art|borrowed from the Nazis]]) modern world — without acknowledging that the concept itself was ironically popularized by the [[Zionist]] Max Nordau. Since the debate and "redpills" are usually about images and blatant [[propaganda]], irrationalism is actively and openly encouraged by the use of nonsensical "memes". That's why if you browse any political thread on 4chan, most lionize people like [[Julius Evola]], [[Donald Trump|"Can't Stump The" Trump]],<ref>It helps that Trump and [[Rand Paul|Paul]] have the [[Pepe the Frog|Pepe]] and Wojack-type reactions you expect from [http://archive.ph/oP85q/image /pol/ comics.]</ref> [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]], or any other [[Far right|far-right]]/[[alt-right]] idols. They're really predictable if you keep in mind that they're mostly [[White nationalism|white nationalists]] (not necessarily "white" by their own Hitlerian standards) with a hate boner for anything that makes the world a better place.<ref>No surprise, then, that [https://web.archive.org/web/20150809161653/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/08/07/getting-cucky-brief-primer-radical-right%E2%80%99s-newest-%E2%80%98cuckservative%E2%80%99-meme 4chan's favorite slur] "[[Alt-right glossary#Cuckservative|cuckservative]]" ([[virgins]] obsessed with the threat of another man's vital essence polluting their women) has neo-Victorian origins.</ref> [[QAnon]] also originated on 4chan's /pol/, yet support there for the conspiracy theory has been mixed despite this.

Although there is no rule against contradicting the board's general consensus, anyone doing so will tend to be excessively outnumbered; one who chooses to attempt an argument can certainly expect a wild [[Gish Gallop]] by multiple (sometimes even dozens of) debate opponents, overwhelmed by countless flawed "infographics" at once, ''[[ad hominem]]s'', [[shill gambit]]s, [[loaded language]], and basically every other [[logical fallacy]] under the Sun. This is somewhat [[ironic]] since one of the board's pinned posts, written by a moderator, actually contains a semi-comprehensive list of logical fallacies (from "[[Your Logical Fallacy Is]]") thus perhaps implying that this is an undesirable level of discourse.<ref>(May 5, 2017). [https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread/124205675 "Welcome to /pol/ - Politically Incorrect"]. ''4chan'', via the 4plebs archive.</ref> Anyhow, not that the average user cares about that (since there are no rules against making fallacious arguments, and even if there were the userbase reviles the site's moderation team [[4chan#Administration|regardless of how sympathetic they are now towards /pol/]]). And the inherent temporality doesn't help: even if one does manage to refute an argument, threads constantly disappear in favor of new ones, and users tend not to challenge their own [[confirmation bias]].

'''Shootings'''

When moot cracked down on Gamergate, many of the diehards started flocking to [[8chan]]'s version of /pol/. Tellingly enough, it was even worse than 4chan's version due to being linked to several racism-motivated mass shooters (see: [[8chan#Terrorism linked to /pol/|8chan § Terrorism linked to /pol/]]).

4chan's /pol/ has itself been linked to at least one mass shooting — the perpetrator of the {{wpl|2022 Buffalo shooting||,}} who claimed that he "only really started [turning] [[racist]] when 4chan started giving me [[bullshit|facts]]."<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/18/4chan-radicalize-buffalo-shooting-white-supremacy "How 4chan’s toxic culture helped radicalize Buffalo shooting suspect"] by Justin Ling, Guardian, 2022 May 18</ref> The Buffalo shooter more specifically credited /pol/ in his manifesto with this.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Closson |first1=Troy |last2=Medina |first2=Eduardo |last3=Patel |first3=Vimal |date=May 14, 2022|title=Live Updates: Gunman Kills 10 at Buffalo Supermarket in Racially Motivated Attack |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://archive.today/20220515055142/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/14/nyregion/buffalo-shooting?smid=url-copy%23the-accused-gunmans-racist-manifesto-outlined-a-plan-to-kill-blacks-and-referred-to-replacement-theory |issn=0362-4331 |quote=Around May 2020, during a period of pandemic boredom, Mr. Gendron said that he had begun to frequent 4chan, an anonymous forum, including its Politically Incorrect message board. There, he said, he was exposed to the conspiracy theory that white people are at risk of being replaced.}}</ref><ref name>{{Cite news |last1=Frosch |first1=Dan |last2=McWhirter |first2=Cameron |last3=Vielkind |first3=Jimmy |last4=Wells |first4=Georgia |date=May 17, 2022|title=Buffalo Shooter's 673-Page Diary Reveals Descent Into Racist Extremism |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://archive.today/20220517205546/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/buffalo-shooting-supermarket-673-page-diary-reveals-suspects-descent-into-racist-extremism-11652814938 |issn=0099-9660 |quote=He credited 4chan, where extremist views are expressed with few restrictions, with influencing him. In particular, he spent time on the platform's "politically incorrect" page that is known among analysts as a hub for spreading far-right ideology, including white supremacy.}}</ref> Another shooter (the perpetrator of the 2022 shooting at {{wpl|Edmund Burke School}} in which four people were wounded) also announced the event on 4chan's /pol/ board, curiously enough providing a kind of live-blog while he was in the middle of committing it; he also posted a video of part of the event.<ref>Raymond Spencer (April 22, 2022). [https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread/374162418/ "Shool shooting!" (/pol/ thread #374162418)]. ''4chan'', archived via the 4plebs archive.</ref><ref>Eric Flack and Mia Salenetri (April 22, 2022). [https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/viewer-discretion-video-purportedly-recorded-by-dc-shooter-reveals-more-than-60-gunshots-over-a-19-second-span-taking-aim-at-school-window/65-e03aa391-a87d-46e8-beaf-28fe518c55a9 "Video purportedly recorded by DC shooter reveals more than 60 gunshots over a 19-second span, taking aim at school window"]. ''WUSA9''.</ref><ref> Peter Hermann, Jasmine Hilton and Fredrick Kunkle (April 23, 2022). [http://archive.today/2022.05.15-083337/https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/04/23/raymond-spencer-dc-shooting/ "Raymond Spencer left an online footprint after D.C. shooting"]. ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

In September 2023, two series of murders were linked to the board. One was allegedly committed by an [[Alaska]]n called "Laseranon", a user notorious for threatening to blind people with lasers; in one post he exclaimed: "I am an actual terrorist!!!!", and he was later arrested for allegedly murdering two people. He was also among those of the board's users alleged to have sent death threats to a Florida sheriff, Mike Chitwood (see: [[Goyim Defense League#Reactions from Florida|Goyim Defense League § Reactions from Florida]]).<ref>Justin Rohrlich (September 27, 2023). [https://www.thedailybeast.com/volusia-sheriff-mike-chitwood-has-the-perfect-response-to-accused-killers-deranged-threats "Sheriff Has the Perfect Response to Accused Double Killer’s Deranged Threats"]. ''The Daily Beast''.</ref><ref>Mack Lamoureux (September 27, 2023). [https://www.vice.com/en/article/3ak7qv/florida-sheriff-mike-chitwood-laseranon-threat-4chan "Murder Suspect Calling Himself ‘Laseranon’ Charged With Threatening Anti-Nazi Sheriff"]. ''Vice''.</ref> The other user arrested that month was "Motoranon" (a username he actually used on /pol/ rather than posting anonymously), a far-right [[incel]] from the [[Netherlands]] with a reported history of cruelty to animals; he was arrested for allegedly committing a shooting at a university.<ref>(September 29, 2023). [https://nltimes.nl/2023/09/29/rotterdam-shootings-suspect-expressed-right-wing-extremist-views-online "Rotterdam shootings suspect expressed right-wing extremist views online"]. ''NL Times''.</ref><ref>Adrianne de Koning and Cyril Rosman (September 29, 2023). [https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/om-waarschuwde-erasmus-mc-over-fouad-l-videos-op-telefoon-waarin-mensen-werden-doodgestoken~a6845551/ "OM waarschuwde Erasmus MC over Fouad L.: ‘Video’s op telefoon waarin mensen werden doodgestoken’"]. ''Algemeen Dagblad'' (in Dutch).</ref>

It is common fare on the board to blame such events on federal agents,<ref>[https://archive.4plebs.org/_/search/text/%22buffalo%22%20%22feds%22/ In example, the Buffalo shooting.] (4chan via 4plebs).</ref> accusing such attacks of being a [[false flag]] or at least goaded on by feds (often referred to on the board as [[Alt-right glossary#Glowie / Glownigger|"glowies" or "glowniggers"]]). This is really just a form of [[denialism]]. Are we really to believe that this imageboard, constantly inundated with threads self-described as "[[nigger]] hate threads" and "Jew hate threads", couldn't contribute to one of its users deciding to murder members of the minority groups it so [[Demonization|demonizes]]? In the case of the 2022 Buffalo shooting, /pol/ users even went through the effort of creating completely fake screenshots (purportedly from a chatroom the shooter was in) to [[Manufactured controversy|manufacture]] a conspiracy theory that the shooter had been "groomed" by federal agents.<ref>Matt Binder (June 2, 2022). [https://mashable.com/article/buffalo-uvalde-shooter-discord-messages-conspiracies-fake "Chat messages that set off conspiracies about Buffalo and Uvalde shootings confirmed to be fake"]. ''Mashable''.</ref><ref>Miles Klee (2022). [https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/groomer-glowies-conspiracy-theory-buffalo-supermarket-shooting "The Far Right Thinks Feds Are 'Grooming' Mass Shooters"]. ''Mel Magazine''.</ref> There is [[Schizofascism|a certain confusion]] or lack of consensus, though, as other posters on the board will openly praise mass shooters: thousands of posts on 4chan's /pol/ can be found lionizing the perpetrator of the [[Christchurch mosque shootings]] as "Saint Tarrant", for instance.<ref>[https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/search/text/%22Saint%20Tarrant%22/ "Searching for posts that contain ‘Saint Tarrant’."] ''4plebs archive''.</ref>

'''Relationship to the rest of 4chan'''

The relationship between /pol/ and the rest of 4chan is tense at best. Though the site is generally right-leaning with lots of racist and far-right memes, anything partisan, pro-Trump, or otherwise politics-related material gets a hostile reaction outside of /pol/. The other boards only begrudgingly tolerate the existence of /pol/ as a "containment board" — functionally, a quarantined septic tank in which /pol/ is free to shitpost their toxic discourse. (/mlp/ is another such containment board to spare the rest of the website from [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|bronies]].) Calling them out causes them to imply that you are a [[Reddit]]or, Jewish, or are [[transgender]] (along with lovingly cherrypicked MtF photos, botched vaginoplasty photos, and le funni [[Alt-right glossary#41%/40%|41%]] number). One of the gripes that other boards have towards /pol/ is precisely its users' proclivity towards literally murdering people, not least because this could pose an existential threat to the rest of the website.{{efn|The occurrence of multiple mass shootings committed by 8chan's /pol/ users within a singular year helped cause that site's relative demise, after all.}}

Though /pol/acks regularly try to (and often do) shit up the rest of the site, its role as a containment board is strong enough to repel the many and repeated calls for its outright deletion, for fear of causing /pol/ to overrun the rest of the site. Indeed, both of its precursors were deleted only for that exact thing to happen, so one can only assume that the administration does not wish to try it a third time. At least one report suggests that, with the departure of moot and effective absenteeism on the part of Hiroyuki, there is a head moderator called "RapeApe" running the show who is relatively more sympathetic to /pol/, who has even deliberately structured the site's moderation practices such that far-right beliefs predominate.<ref name="ViceRapeApe"/> Considering that he oversees moderation across the entire site, it does not bode well for the "containment board" theory's shelf-life. /pol/ was the most popular board on 4chan for much of the "Trump era", but was overtaken by /vg/ (a /v/ offshoot) in 2023.<ref>https://4stats.io/</ref>

{{anchor|/r9k/}}

===/r9k/ — ROBOT9001===
{{See also|Incel#/r9k/|Incel § /r9k/}}
Added in 2008 as a response to a proposal by [[xkcd]] for a board where users couldn't make any identical posts to encourage in-depth discussion. In practice, it was incredibly easy to trick the auto-moderation software by merely typing random gibberish at the end of a post or making tiny changes to images, thus leading to the requirement eventually being removed in 2014. However, the originality filter was re-enabled in late 2015, when 4chan came under new ownership. A majority of users said yes when the owner asked if the "robot" should be brought back. Over time, the board's culture developed into a support group where users bonded over mutual social anxieties and ranted about "normies" and women. It was also one of the central communities in associating [[Pepe the Frog]] with the alt-right.

/r9k/ is probably most infamous for being the board where it was alleged that the shooter in the Umpqua Community College massacre had posted and was encouraged to act by other posters.<ref>Nick Statt, [http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/1/9437577/4chan-federal-investigation-oregon-college-shooting "4chan thread under federal investigation after Oregon college shooting"], ''The Verge''</ref>

===/x/ — Paranormal===
[[Paranormal]] [[woo]], and lots of it. Discussions about creepypasta are frequently brought up. It's the origin place of many famous creepypastas such as Smile.dog, Lost Silver, Red Mist/Squidward's Suicide, the Backrooms, and more, but it also arguably has some of the dumbest posts on the platform.

===/tg/ — Tabletop Games===
The fa/tg/uys. This board encompasses traditional pen and paper games like ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', collectible card games like ''Magic: The Gathering'', war games like ''Warhammer 40k'', good old board games, and other related paraphernalia. Also elves being 
[[rape]]d
 gently cuddled. It's famous within the community for actually completing a lot of creative projects it comes up with. [https://1d6chan.miraheze.org/wiki//tg/_gets_shit_done /tg/ gets shit done.] Also has a wiki spin-off named [https://1d6chan.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page 1d6chan] (formerly 1d4chan until their old servers shit the bed). Some of the material is worthwhile, some isn't. Unlike Encyclopedia Dramatica, they have a much more strict policy with images, and they also have a warning in any articles containing [https://1d6chan.miraheze.org/wiki/PROMOTIONS promotions] (read: NSFW imagery), so one can access it in public without (much) fear.

===/k/ — Weapons===
All things related to [[Gun|guns]], body armor, military tactics, military strategy, blades, explosives, vehicles, [[sci-fi]]-related weapon ideas, experimental technology, or [[Martial art|martial combat]]. This board's users are referred to as /k/ommandos. Recurring themes include /k/ in an alternative universe or timeline (such as "Meanwhile in WH40/k/), OP doing something incredibly awesome/stupid/hilarious (e.g., gassing yourself with chlorine gas just to test a military surplus gas mask), "what if we [insert idea that likely will end in failure]", and something along the lines of "my gun is better than your gun". Interestingly, a fair number of anons on /k/ are opposed to /pol/ (reinforced by the fact that posting /pol/-related material is asking for a ban). Between 2015 and 2016, /k/'s board culture started veering towards a concept known as /ak/, a combination of gun fanaticism with anime otaku culture, with cultural expressions such as "tactical waifus" (anime girls in military outfits; /ak/ culture is the reason why Chinese mobile game ''Girls Frontline'' gained an English translation with Japanese voiceovers), or "weeb patches" (putting otaku-themed insignia on guns and tactical gear). The [[boogaloo boys]] movement emerged out of /k/.<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/07/american-boogaloo-meme-or-terrorist-movement/613843/ The Boogaloo Tipping Point: What happens when a meme becomes a terrorist movement?] by Dale Beran (July 4, 2020) ''The Atlantic''.</ref>

===/d/ — Porn/Alternative===
Technically subtitled "Hentai/Alternative", but this is misleading as both Western and Eastern content was allowed until a restructuring after moot stepped down. All [[porn]] flies here so long as it at least reaches the kinkiness of [[BDSM]] but isn't as legally problematic as [[bestiality]] or [[pedophilia]]. Hosts some bizarre porn with dedicated objectophilia threads and fetishes that don't even have names yet. If you ask for regular porn, then you may get B&. Has something of a spinoff board in /aco/ (Adult Cartoons) which focuses on Western cartoon (i.e.: not real-life or Japanese-style) porn, though it maintains most of /d/'s restrictions on content. /d/'s users are generally referred to as /d/eviants.

===/sp/ — Sports===
The obligatory board for all things [[sports]]. Due to 4chan's predominantly American userbase, /sp/ is split regarding the many differences between American and European sports. Its members are called /sp/artans.

===/mu/ — Music===
Another 
surprisingly good
 ok board lurking on this site. Indulge your inner hipster. See what happens when you post about Neutral Milk Hotel. Irony poisoned and filled with trolls, but if you ignore them, you can get into some meaningful discussions on it. Members of this board are called /mu/tants.

===/wsg/ — Worksafe GIF===
Probably the easiest boards for [[Normal|normies]] to enjoy. It is here you will find the repository for all the reaction images, GIFs and WebMs used by the rest of the site. /wsg/ is somewhat unique among the various 4chan boards, as its threads are almost entirely entertainment-oriented rather than discussion-centred. The name itself is now pretty out of date, with the advent of WebMs having mostly replaced GIF posting. Some of the more popular topics include YLYL humor, music, dancing, moving art, gaming, feels (GIFs or webMs that evoke intense emotions of all kinds), cheese/beefcake, and memes. Has a tendency to use not only in-house memes but also repost other boards' memes as well. May or may not be a [[Gateway drug]] into the rest of 4chan.

===/lgbt/ — Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender===
What do you get when you have a website known for its far-right reactionary content and give it a space designed for LGBT people? You still get toxicity... just not in the same way you would expect. /lgbt/ is actually mostly composed of LGBT people, but it caters to a specific demographic, being the type who believe other LGBT spaces online are too "hugboxy". This leads to lots of self-hate, judgement, and threads full of people tearing themselves and others down. Most of the board is trans, leading to its in-board nickname of /tttt/ (Trans, trans, trans, and more trans). Due to trans people's sheer presence on it, The LGB portion of the board have created specific general threads in an effort to centralize discussions. The [[transphobic]] slur tranny is used quite frequently as both an insult and a term of endearment, along with words like tranner and troon.  The board is almost entirely forgotten by other site users, but that doesn't stop transphobia, because why would it? [[Autogynephilia]] is frequently discussed, with a significant minority of people on the site identifying as autogynephiles, as well as other theories of [[Ray Blanchard]]. Surprisingly for 4chan, a good portion of the users are leftists, albeit leftists of the edgelord kind, even if most of the board still leans right. It's far from the worst place on the site, but it's definitely not good. Also, people are horny there. Basically as horny as you can get on a "work safe" board.

==See also==
* [[Encyclopædia Dramatica]]
* [[Kiwi Farms]], a worse forum that doomed itself by allowing [[dox|doxing]] of its [[lolcow|victims]].
* [[8chan]], a more bigoted version of 4chan.
* [[Reddit]] - A slightly less hostile alternative. Hated by anons for being stricter on bigoted language.
* [[DCinside]] - South Korean version of 4chan.
* [[Ilbe Storehouse]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}
[[Category:4chan|*]]
[[Category:Alt-tech]]
[[Category:Alt-right]]
[[Category:Ableism]]
[[Category:Antifeminism]]
[[Category:Antisemitism]]
[[Category:Clogosphere]]
[[Category:Doxers]]
[[Category:Fascism]]
[[Category:Gamergate]]
[[Category:Holocaust denial]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Incelosphere]]
[[Category:Internet hate sites]]
[[Category:Internalized discrimination]]
[[Category:Islamophobia]]
[[Category:Memes]]
[[Category:Machismo]]
[[Category:Men's rights movement]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazism]]
[[Category:Paedophilia]]
[[Category:Propaganda]]
[[Category:QAnon]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Rape culture]]
[[Category:Sexism]]
[[Category:Spammers]]
[[Category:Terrorism]]
[[Category:Transphobia]]
[[Category:Trolls]]
[[Category:Vatniks]]
[[Category:Webshites]]
[[Category:White supremacy]]
[[Category:Xenophobia]]
[[Category:Epsteinsphere]]

Categories: 4chan, Alt-tech, Alt-right, Ableism, Antifeminism, Antisemitism, Clogosphere, Doxers, Fascism, Gamergate, Holocaust denial, Homophobia, Incelosphere, Internet hate sites, Internalized discrimination, Islamophobia, Memes, Machismo, Men's rights movement, Neo-Nazism, Paedophilia, Propaganda, QAnon, Racism, Rape culture, Sexism, Spammers, Terrorism, Transphobia, Trolls, Vatniks, Webshites, White supremacy, Xenophobia, Epsteinsphere