4chan

Logo

4chan is an anonymous imageboard website founded in 2003 by Christopher "moot" Poole, divided into several "boards" for discussion of different topics. It is known for its far-right content; its users are almost exclusively male and frequently use racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic slurs. Multiple far-right movements have originated on 4chan, including QAnon and the Boogaloo boys.

Origins and early development

4chan was launched on October 1, 2003, by Christopher "moot" Poole, a 15-year-old student from New York City. Poole, who posted under the handle "moot" (always lowercase), had been an active member of the Something Awful forums, specifically the "Anime Death Tentacle Rape Whorehouse" (ADTRW) subforum, where early discussions about creating an English-language imageboard took place.

The site was built by directly adapting the source code and board structure of the Japanese imageboard Futaba Channel (2chan), which Poole translated into English with the help of a small group of early collaborators from the ADTRW and world2ch communities, including users known as Shii, thatdog, and hova. 4chan initially consisted of just two boards: /a/ (Anime) and /b/ (Random).

Jeffrey Epstein and the origins of /pol/

In January 2026, millions of pages from the Jeffrey Epstein files were released by the U.S. Department of Justice. Among the documents were emails showing that Epstein met with 4chan founder Christopher “moot” Poole in October 2011, the same month 4chan launched its “Politically Incorrect” board /pol/.

The introduction was arranged by Boris Nikolic, an adviser to Bill Gates, who described Poole as a “cool guy” and linked to his Wikipedia page. After the meeting, Epstein wrote “i liked mmot slot. i drove him home, he is very bright.” ["i liked moot a lot", presumably]. Four days later, Nikolic emailed Epstein about 4chan’s potential for political manipulation, writing: “This article describes why I find moot interesting. The potential for manipulation is huge.”

/pol/'s creation coincided almost simultaneously with the Epstein–Poole meeting, and the board rapidly became a cesspool of white supremacist, neo-Nazi and QAnon content. The release of the emails gave rise to a widespread conspiracy theory that Epstein himself had created /pol/—or at least encouraged its launch—as a vehicle for far‑right propaganda and mass manipulation. Poole has denied any connection, insisting that the board was added before his chance encounter with Epstein and that their single lunch meeting was “unmemorable,” though many people implicated in the Files have also said so to distance themselves from Epstein. Nevertheless, the documents expose how figures of the bourgeoisie recognize and engineer the utility of an anonymous, unregulated platform for steering political discourse toward the far right.