4chan may be dead, but its toxic legacy lives on

The article begins with an exploration of how Chris Cates discovered 4chan at a young age, falling in love with its alt-culture scene before realizing it had become a tool for far-right propaganda. It traces the evolution of 4chan from a simple platform for cat memes to a hub for authoritarianism and division, influencing political movements across the globe through its anonymous anonymity and chaotic ecosystem. The piece captures both the creativity that gave birth to internet memes and the dark underside that turned it into an unlikely bogeyman of modernity.