8chan: Difference between revisions

'''8kun''', previously called '''8chan''', '''Infinitechan''' or '''Infinitychan''' (stylized as '''∞chan'''), is<!--Please do not change this to past tense without discussion--> an [[imageboard]] website composed of user-created [[message board]]s. An owner moderates each board, with minimal interaction from site administration.<ref name="faq">{{cite web |last=Brennan |first=Fredrick |url=https://null.net/faq.html |title=FAQ |publisher=Infinitechan |website=null.net |access-date=November 23, 2014}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The site has been linked to [[white supremacism]], [[neo-Nazism]], the [[alt-right]], [[racism]] and [[antisemitism]], [[hate crime]]s, and multiple [[mass shooting]]s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/04/mass-shootings-el-paso-texas-dayton-ohio-8chan-far-right-website |title=8chan: the far-right website linked to the rise in hate crimes |last=Wong |first=Julia Carrie |author-link=Julia Carrie Wong |date=2019-08-04 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2019-08-05 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821023116/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/04/mass-shootings-el-paso-texas-dayton-ohio-8chan-far-right-website |archive-date=August 21, 2019 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="nytimes 20190804">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/technology/8chan-shooting-manifesto.html |title=8chan Is a Megaphone for Gunmen. 'Shut the Site Down,' Says Its Creator. |last=Roose |first=Kevin |date=2019-08-04 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2019-08-05 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190805070853/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/technology/8chan-shooting-manifesto.html |archive-date=August 5, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |author-link=Kevin Roose |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/04/business/el-paso-shooting-8chan-biz/index.html |title=El Paso shooting is at least the third atrocity linked to 8chan this year |last1=Mezzofiore |first1=Gianluca |date=2019-08-05 |access-date=2019-08-05 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820031158/https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/04/business/el-paso-shooting-8chan-biz/index.html |archive-date=2019-08-20 |publisher=[[CNN]] |last2=O'Sullivan |first2=Donie}}</ref> The site has been known to host [[child pornography]];<ref name="Howell2014" /><ref name="WashPost" /> as a result, it was filtered out from [[Google Search]] in 2015.<ref name="ars-8chancensor" /> Several of the site's boards played an active role in the [[Gamergate (harassment campaign)|Gamergate]] harassment campaign, encouraging Gamergate affiliates to frequent 8chan after [[4chan]] banned the topic. 8chan is the homeorigin and main center of activity of the discredited [[QAnon|QAnon]] [[conspiracy theory]].<ref name="far-right conspiracy theory">Sources:

Brennan agreed to partner 8chan with the Japanese message board [[2channel|2chan]],<ref name="KYM">{{cite interview |url=http://knowyourmeme.com/blog/interviews/qa-with-fredrick-brennan-of-8chan |title=Q&A with Fredrick Brennan of 8chan |last=Brennan |first=Fredrick |interviewer=Don Caldwell |date=October 9, 2014 |work=[[Know Your Meme]] |access-date=December 18, 2014 |archive-date=December 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211070911/http://knowyourmeme.com/blog/interviews/qa-with-fredrick-brennan-of-8chan |url-status=dead }}</ref> and subsequently relocated to the [[Philippines]] in October 2014.<ref name=Chen />

[[Matthew Prince]], CEO of [[Cloudflare]], initially defended his firm's technological support of 8chan on August 3, 2019, the day of the [[2019 El Paso shooting|El Paso shooting]]: "What happened in El Paso today is abhorrent in every possible way, and it's ugly, and I hate that there's any association between us and that {{Nbsp}}... For us the question is which is the worse evil?"<ref name="Matthew Prince"/>

However, by the next day, August 4, with increasing press attention, Cloudflare changed its position, and rescinded its support for 8chan effective midnight August 5 [[Pacific Time Zone|Pacific Time]], potentially leaving the site open for [[denial of service]] attacks. Prince stated: "Unfortunately the action we take today won't fix hate online&nbsp;... It will almost certainly not even remove 8chan from the Internet. But it is the right thing to do."<ref name="the verge 20190804"/> ThePrince wrote on the Cloudflare Blog:<ref>{{cite wroteweb |last=Prince |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Prince |date=August 4, 2019 |title=Terminating Service for 8Chan |url=https://blog.cloudflare.com/terminating-service-for-8chan/ |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=Cloudflare Blog}}</ref>

{{blockquote|8chan is among the more than 19 million Internet properties that use Cloudflare's service. We just sent notice that we are terminating 8chan as a customer effective at midnight tonight Pacific Time. The rationale is simple: they have proven themselves to be lawless and that lawlessness has caused multiple tragic deaths. Even if 8chan may not have violated the letter of the law in refusing to moderate their hate-filled community, they have created an environment that revels in violating its spirit.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.cloudflare.com/terminating-service-for-8chan/ |title=Terminating Service for 8Chan |website=Cloudflare Blog |date=August 5, 2019}}</ref>}}

On September 18, 2014, 8chan became entangled in the [[Gamergate (harassment campaign)|Gamergate]] harassment campaign after 4chan banned discussion of Gamergate,<ref name="Howell2014" /><ref name="Chen" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2014/10/15/4chan-wizardchan-8chan-le-guide-des-forums-anonymes-les-plus-populaires-du-web_4505380_4408996.html |title=4chan, wizardchan, 8chan... s'y retrouver dans la jungle des forums anonymes les plus populaires du Web |last=Audureau |first=William |date=October 15, 2014 |work=[[Le Monde]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528194203/https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2014/10/15/4chan-wizardchan-8chan-le-guide-des-forums-anonymes-les-plus-populaires-du-web_4505380_4408996.html |archive-date=May 28, 2019 |language=fr |trans-title=4chan, wizardchan, 8chan... find your way through the jungle of the most popular anonymous forums on the Web}}</ref> whereupon 8chan became one of several hubs for Gamergate activity.<ref name="Howell2014" /><ref name="Chen">{{cite web |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2014/10/gamergate-supporters-party-at-strip-club.html |title=Gamergate Supporters Partied at a Strip Club This Weekend |last=Chen |first=Adrian |date=October 27, 2014 |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809180327/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2014/10/gamergate-supporters-party-at-strip-club.html |archive-date=August 9, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Buzz" /><ref name="Guardian 2015-01-13" /> The site was little-known prior to the controversy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gonzalez |first=Oscar |date=7 November 2019 |title=8chan, 8kun, 4chan, Endchan: What you need to know |work=[[CNET]] |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/8chan-8kun-4chan-endchan-what-you-need-to-know-internet-forums/ |access-date=16 November 2021}}</ref> 8chan's initial Gamergate-oriented board "/gg/" also gained attention after being compromised by members of the [[internet troll]] group [[Gay Nigger Association of America]], forcing Gamergate activists to migrate to "/gamergate/". This replacement quickly became the site's second-most accessed board.<ref name="Buzz">{{cite news |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/gamergates-headquarters-has-been-destroyed-by-trolls |title=GamerGate's Headquarters Has Been Destroyed By Trolls |last1=Bernstein |first1=Joseph |date=December 4, 2014 |work=[[BuzzFeed News]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417032357/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/gamergates-headquarters-has-been-destroyed-by-trolls |archive-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref>

John T. Earnest, the alleged perpetrator of a shooting at a synagogue in [[Poway, California]], on April 27, 2019, and an [[Escondido mosque fire|earlier arson attack]] at a mosque in nearby [[Escondido, California|Escondido]] on March 25, had posted links to his [[open letter]] and his attempted livestream on 8chan, which Earnest also named as a place of radicalization for him.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/us-news/anti-semitic-open-letter-online-under-chabad-synagogue-n999211 |title=Anti-Semitic open letter posted online under name of Chabad synagogue shooting suspect |last1=Collins |first1=Ben |date=April 27, 2019 |access-date=April 29, 2019 |work=[[NBC News]] |last2=Blankstein |first2=Andrew}}</ref> According to 8chan's Twitter, the shooter's post was removed nine minutes after its creation.<ref>{{cite tweet |author=8chan (8ch.net) |user=infinitechan |number=1122494322283167745 |date=April 28, 2019 |title=The Poway shooter's post on 8chan was taken down NINE minutes after creation. There are only screencaps available and no archives exist since the post was deleted so quickly. The loudest groups publicizing this crime and giving attention to this CRIMINAL are the fake-news media.}}</ref>