4chan is down: Hack suspicions grow as commenters turn Downdetector website into an alternate forum

The 4chan website experienced an outage, first reported around 9:57 p.m. ET, with users unable to access the site. Downdetector showed a peak in outage reports shortly after, with thousands of users reporting issues. Social media reports suggest the outage may be due to a potential hack, though this remains unconfirmed. Fast Company's request for comment from 4chan went unanswered. Users have utilized Downdetector's comment section to discuss the outage and speculate on its cause. 4chan is an image board platform similar to Reddit, known for its controversial, often right-wing content. A security breach could expose user identities and opinions, creating potential problems given the platform's nature. Most reported issues involved the website itself, followed by server connection problems and posting difficulties. Outages were registered across numerous cities in the United States and Canada. The outage has sparked concerns regarding potential data exposure and platform security.