Was 4Chan Hacked? 'Down Reports' Explode

Unconfirmed reports that the controversial messageboard 4Chan was hacked circulated on April 15, 2025, as "down reports" escalated.

According to DownDetector, the reported problems were listed as being 72% website, 24% server connection, and 4% posting.

The down reports spiked around 10 p.m. on April 14 and continued on April 15.

According to Reuters, 4Chan is a "notorious internet messageboard."

Unconfirmed posts "circulating online" reported that 4chan was hacked, Reuters reported. Some posts "said that an alleged hacker involved had revealed identifying details of the site's moderators," Reuters reported.

According to Wired, the hack reports emerged when "a previously banned board on 4chan briefly appeared online and the site was defaced with a message saying, 'U GOT HACKED XD.'"

"4chan is an anonymous message board that enables often offensive and hateful content. The content leaked, if genuine, would remove some of the anonymity from 4chan administrators, moderators, and janitors,” Ian Gray, analysis and research director at the security firm Flashpoint, told Wired. 

Though the exact details of the situation have not been confirmed, community infighting seems to have spilled out in a breach of the notorious image board. https://t.co/OR2AOU6RoG

— WIRED Science (@WIREDScience) April 15, 2025

"The image board’s billing as an 'anonymous' platform may have given users a 'false sense of security,'" Gray told Wired. “Some users may have registered their email addresses years ago when they were less aware or concerned about their operational security."

Screenshots "showing what appears to be 4chan’s back end circulated online," TechCrunch reported. According to TechCrunch, data showed "the site’s alleged back end, source code, and templates to ban users."

According to Mashable, social media users "latched onto the alleged last post they reportedly saw before the site went down." It's a picture of Jack Black in the Minecraft Movie with the phrase, "Chicken Jockey," Mashable reported.