Upon looking at 4chan, you will find it is mostly made up of pornography. But why is this image board the way it is? The answer lies in its lax moderation of content.

Clearly 4chan is a hotbed for far-right terrorism. This comes after 4chan’s rhetoric inspired a 2015 mass shooting in Oregon and its users aided in the organization in the Unite The Right Rally and the January 6 th Riots. This attack, fresh in American’s minds, led many to question why 4chan is still allowed to exist.

4chan was sprung into the spotlight once again on May 14 th, 2022, when a white supremacists livestreamed his massacre of a supermarket. This hateful rhetoric festered, worsening in 2020 during the COVID pandemic and George Floyd protests. However, in the wake of the European Migrant Crisis in 2015 and the 2016 Presidential Election, it became associated with white supremacy, especially on its /pol/ board. It has been running since 2003, and over the course of almost 20 years, has influenced many internet memes and phenomena. In the aftermath of yet another racially motivated mass shooting by a frequent user, its dangers have finally reached the mainstream.Ĥchan is an extremely unique website. The image board was started in 2003 to discuss anime and various other topics but festered into a safe space for hateful rhetoric soon after.