According to various reports, AT&T blocked access to the popular and controversial web forum yesterday, inciting a swift rebellion from 4chan users. As of this morning, it appears that AT&T has rescinded the block, however, it is entirely possible the company will continue to face recriminations for their censorship.
Since the site’s inception, 4chan.org has been a lightning rod for criticism for its anonymous attacks and proclivity toward Internet defamation. However, despite the often offensive material found on the site, 4chan has also been consistently defended as a haven for free, unfiltered speech online. Needless to say, AT&T’s ban of 4chan, though short, will have lasting effects on Internet culture.
UPDATE:
AT&T spokesperson Brad Mays explained to Ars Technica that the block was due to denial-of-service attacks coming from 4chan IP addresses, not due to any of the content at 4chan.
“Beginning Friday, an AT&T customer was impacted by a denial-of-service attack stemming from IP addresses connected to img.4chan.org. To prevent this attack from disrupting service for the impacted AT&T customer, and to prevent the attack from spreading to impact our other customers, AT&T temporarily blocked access to the IP addresses in question for our customers. This action was in no way related to the content at img.4chan.org; our focus was on protecting our customers from malicious traffic.”
1 comment so far ↓
And once again, it NEVER fails with the incessant lying, as lying is a way of life for these hacker creeps. I salute AT&T for blocking viruses, trojans and nasty spider scripts, as that is what the REAL truth is as to WHY AT&T has flashed the middle finger [blocked] to 4 Chan. Why should AT&T waste time and energy in dealing with viruses, trojans and uncontrollable script programs emanating from the 4 Chan site?
I don’t condone censorship and I certainly don’t condone lies “in the name of lulz”. The only thing 4 Chan has proven again and again, is that they are infantile and violent. A bunch of two year olds who go on tirades. And just like an out of control two year old, they need some REAL hard slaps from the school of hard knocks.
Any consequences or denial of internet access to AT&T customers due to NAZI actions emanating from 4 Chan [or any other hacker creeps for that matter], I pray that they are caught, rounded up, prosecuted beyond the extent of the law, thrown in a windowless cell and locked up forever until the day they die.
I commend AT&T for taking the step forward and I sincerely hope that other ISP’S follow suit ASAP. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Hackers cause destruction, chaos, waste everyones time and energy. Normal people on the net are SICK AND TIRED of these two year old tantrum antics that 4 Chan displays on a daily basis. These hacker creeps really and truly need to GROW THE F*** UP.
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