The army of anonymous computer nerds who use 4chan, the website that revealed intimate nude photographs of countless celebrities, are constantly trying to outdo one another with provocative postings.
In 2009, one of its seven million users managed to name the site’s founder Christopher Poole as Times Magazine’s Most Influential Person by hacking into a poll,
The Washington Post reported.
Another “gamed” or took over Google Trends by forcing a racial slur to be the top trend at one time. And another geek once came under investigation for hacking into Sarah Palin’s personal emails during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Created in 2003 when Poole was 15 years old,
4chan consists of a vast web of anonymous, uncensored message boards, dubbed the “hive mind.” The hive once spread a false story that Apple founder Steve Jobs had a heart attack, causing its stock to fall precipitously, the Post said.
The site also started talk that there was a bomb at New York’s JFK airport, leading to an evacuation. And users altered an online poll about which countries singer Justin Bieber should visit during a world tour, making North Korea the top choice.
The pranks, which are not illegal, have still resulted in investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
It’s been called a “menace to society,” and is full of pornographic material, and yet 4chan is far from a porn site. Although
The New York Times once called it “the darkest corner of the Web,” until this weekend it had remained in the shadows.
But the shock site has finally come to light with one or several 4chan users posting the most private photos of dozens of celebrities from the U.S. and the U.K., including those of actress Jennifer Lawrence and supermodel Kate Upton, ever circulated on the Internet.
The steamy photos were quickly picked up by Reddit under the handle of “the Fappening,” where they were seen by thousands of readers before it reached Buzzfeed and went viral.
“This is a flagrant violation of privacy,” a Lawrence spokesman said in a statement. “The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence.”
The FBI has called the leak an “unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals” and is conducting an investigation, the Post reported.
However, the FBI will have trouble unmasking the culprit or culprits behind the nude photos uproar because users are guaranteed complete anonymity, which allows them the freedom to post profane, hurtful or potentially evil material, the newspaper said.
Even after the celebrity pictures were taken down, some 4chan users are reportedly attempting to create a viral hashtag #leakforJLaw, which urges people to post nude selfies of themselves to support the actress.
But it’s just as likely to be another 4chan prank, getting people to disrobe and embarrass themselves by posting the pictures on the Web.