Headline Roundup • April 16th, 2025
Alleged 4chan Hack Exposes Emails of Moderators
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The internet forum site 4chan was hacked on Tuesday, according to several posts circulating on social media.
The Details: The site was reportedly down on Tuesday, and the hack allegedly exposed source code and internal data on the site’s moderators.
Verity: TechCrunch (Center bias) reported reaching out to several of the leaked email addresses and anonymously cited a site moderator who said they were “confident” the leaked data was “all real.” Reuters (Center) highlighted TechCrunch’s source and also that Israeli cybercrime expert Alon Gal said the hack “looks legit.”
Nothingburger?: The Verge (Lean Left) quoted Jared Holt of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an activist organization that, according to Wikipedia, partners with Western governments. Holt poured cold water on some rumors surrounding the hack and wrote, “After spending the morning with what materials I could halfway assess as legit I am sad to report that this is a real snoozer.”
How The Media Covered It: The alleged hack was widely discussed on X, but not the biggest story in mainstream media, though several prominent outlets from the left and center covered it. The Verge wrote that 4chan is “obviously, also notorious for trying to trick outsiders about things happening on the site.” TechCrunch and Reuters described 4chan as a home for the “alt-right” and “extreme right,” respectively. AllSides did not find coverage from the right.
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
Featured Coverage of this Story
The Verge
Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
4chan appears to be down following a major hack that reportedly exposed its source code. A user on a competing messaging board claimed responsibility for the attack on Monday night and claimed to have reopened the site’s /qa/ board.
4chan is, obviously, also notorious for trying to trick outsiders about things happening on the site, and its tagline has long included the phrase: “Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact.” The image-posting board was a base for the Anonymous movement and later a hub for far-right extremism,...
TechCrunch
TechCrunch
Notorious internet forum 4chan was hacked on Tuesday.
At the time of writing, 4chan’s website was not loading, and users on social media reported the site being intermittently down for hours.
Messages on a rival message board, which TechCrunch has seen, celebrated the hack, with one person claiming that the hacker responsible for the breach was inside 4chan’s system “for over a year.”
Reuters
Reuters
The notorious internet messageboard 4chan has been hacked, according to posts circulating online, some of which said that a the hacker involved had revealed identifying details of the site's moderators to the public.
The alleged hack first came to light when a defunct section of the site sprang back to life with the words "U GOT HACKED" emblazoned across the top, according to Wired magazine.
