Message board website 4Chan made the news for pulling off a web prank, according to PoliticallyIllustrated.com. In response to a recent interview on Good Morning America by YouTube user “Jessi Slaughter,” 4Chan recently changed its user rules to five simple things such as “using proper grammar and spelling” and being “kindhearted.”
The prank comes on the heels of accusations that some 4Chan users have been cyberbullying an 11-year-old girl in Florida who fought back on YouTube, according to ABC News and CBS News. 4Chan is normally a much more risqué website that attracts users who talk about all kinds of subjects, from anime to pornography.
The Jessi Slaughter Case
Jessi Slaughter originally used YouTube as a way to rant about her life. Once some 4Chan users found the videos, they talked about it, and her angst went viral. Now there have been hundreds of spoof videos posted, as well as other videos regarding her interview with Good Morning America.
4Chan has never been known to be family-friendly nor nice when it gets a hold of something to be criticized. ABC News describes the message board system as “malicious.”Jessi ‘s father went on YouTube to say there will be “consequences” for anyone who has tormented his daughter online.
With several other unfortunate incidents of cyber-bullying making the news, including the suicide of Massachusetts teenager Phoebe Prince in January, laws are in the midst of being changed to make it easier to prosecute such cases, according to ABC News. Nine people are being charged in the death of Phoebe.
The outcome of the Jessi Slaughter case is still up in the air. State police in Florida are investigating the case, and the young girl is undergoing counseling because officials believe her to be suicidal.
Justin Bieber
Other high-profile incidents have involved the 4Chan website, many in 2010. Justin Bieber, according to a fake Faxo account, was to kick off his world tour in North Korea. According to the fake poll, Israel came in second and Poland third. You could vote every 20 minutes on this website.
Wired magazine reported on July 6 that 4Chan pranked North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il, before claiming he had a sizable collection of Daffy Duck memorabilia.
4Chan’s Message
4Chan’s M.O. has never truly been nice, but their persistence and hacker-like incidents have made the news several times. As a repository for many adult topics, in addition to other areas such as sports, nature, and technology, 4Chan is a bulletin board for posting just about anything, including imagery that can be of any nature, including profane and obscene.
Their normal rules, which were recently changed in the prank, state that 4Chan even has some “work safe” portions of the website so that you can view the website safely while on the clock. No one under 18 is allowed on the website. Unfortunately, 4Chan knows how chronic abusers of the Internet work. Their rules state that users should not violate any local or U.S. laws, and they also state that users should not try to evade any ban. “Ban evasion will result in permanent bans. No exceptions-DO NOT EVADE YOUR BAN.” Shouldn’t the first ban be permanent?
4Chan is all about getting around the rules. Their own rules even say you can evade them. The fact that they even speak of what is specifically not allowed invites anyone who enters the site to go ahead and break the stated rules, since there seems to be specific mentions of what is not allowed. The rules of 4Chan don’t even sound like normal legalese that should be in a terms of service on a website, so that should immediately call into question the validity of what is allowed and not on 4Chan.
The website looks simple and unobtrusive. Unfortunately, 4Chan seems to be affecting the lives of innocent children in harmful ways. As with anything on the Internet, parents should help monitor what their children do regarding Internet usage and what they do on very public websites that anyone can view. Unfortunately, it is not a safe world on the web for children.
PoliticallyIllustrated.com, ABC News, CBS News, and Wired all contributed information for this website. 4Chan’s website contributed information inasmuch as quoting their rules and looking at the front page of their website.
