420chan

{{Short description|Anonymous forums where users can discuss drugs and alcohol}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}

{{Infobox website

| name = 420chan

| logo = 420chan logo.png

| logo_size = 219

| type = Imageboard

| current_status = offline

| owner = Taima Enterprises

| creator = Aubrey Cottle (Kirtaner)

| founded = 20 April 2005

| headquarters = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

| registration = No

| url = [https://420chan.org 420chan.org]
{{URL|not420chan.org}}
{{small|(defunct)}}
{{URL|not420chan.com}}
{{small|(defunct)}}

}}

__NOTOC__

420chan was an anonymous imageboard founded on 20 April 2005{{Cite web |title=First New Board in Four Years |url=https://420chan.org/blog/2015/10/10/first-new-board-in-four-years/ |last=Cottle|first=Aubrey |date=2015-10-10 |website=420chan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224100651/https://420chan.org/blog/2015/10/10/first-new-board-in-four-years/ |archive-date=2019-02-24 |access-date=2020-05-19}}{{Cite web |title=WHOIS for 420chan.org |url=https://www.whois.com/whois/420chan.org |website=Domain WHOIS |via=WHOIS.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208001227/https://www.whois.com/whois/420chan.org |archive-date=2019-02-08 |access-date=2020-05-19}}The .org TLD specifies its creation dates in its WHOIS data using ISO 8601 dates. The creation date of {{Code|2005-04-21T03:39:16Z}} specifies that the domain was registered on 21 April 2005, in UTC. However, because Cottle is from Toronto, which in April has time zone UTC−05:00, the registration actually did happen in the final hours of 20 April 2005. by hacker{{Cite news |title=Fallout begins for far-right trolls who trusted Epik to keep their identities secret |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/25/epik-hack-fallout/ |access-date=2023-04-21 |issn=0190-8286}} and freelance web developer{{Cite web |title=In the Late 1980s, Nintendo Revealed That Super Mario Has an Uncircumcised Penis |url=https://hornet.com/stories/super-mario-penis/ |last=Villarreal|first=Daniel |date=2020-03-10 |website=Hornet |access-date=2020-05-19}} Aubrey Cottle.{{Cite web |title=Internet Intruder From Australia May Be Behind Early Morning Prank That Led To Local ETF Raid |url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2008/05/15/internet-intruder-from-australia-may-be-behind-early-morning-prank-that-led-to-local-etf-raid/ |date=2008-05-15 |website=CityNews Toronto |access-date=2020-05-19}} According to its founder, its name was a portmanteau of 420, a slang word originating in cannabis culture but now applicable to drug culture more generally, and 4chan, another imageboard website.{{Cite web |title=420chan FAQ |url=http://www.420chan.org/what.htm |last=Cottle|first=Aubrey |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207023015/http://www.420chan.org/what.htm |archive-date=2008-02-07 |access-date=2020-05-19 |quote=I was talking to some friends and one of them came up with "420chan", a stupid combination of 4chan and drugs.}} Discussion on the site was primarily focused around recreational drug use and wrestling, with other boards related to topics including humor and academia.

While in its early history it was primarily known for hosting a board known as /i/,As on 4chan, boards are identified by their URLs, which are typically acronyms or shorthand for the full name of the board./i/ {{Em dash}} "Invasion".{{Cite magazine |last=Singel|first=Ryan |date=2007-07-27 |title=Investigative Report Reveals Hackers Terrorize the Internet for LULZ |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2007/07/investigative-r/ |access-date=2020-05-19 |issn=1059-1028}} then used by the hacker collective Anonymous{{Cite book |last1=Caneppele|first1=Stefano |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTG8BAAAQBAJ&q=%22420chan%22&pg=PA235 |title=Organized Crime, Corruption and Crime Prevention: Essays in Honor of Ernesto U. Savona |last2=Calderoni|first2=Francesco |date=2013-10-30 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-319-01839-3 |pages=235}} to stage "invasions" against individuals and web platforms such as Habbo Hotel,{{cite news |last=Shuman|first=Phil |date=2007-07-26 |title=FOX 11 Investigates: 'Anonymous{{'-}} |work=MyFOX Los Angeles |publisher=KTTV (Fox) |url=http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3894628&version=7&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522123812/http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3894628&version=7&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1 |archive-date=2008-05-22}} and Hal Turner.{{cite news |last=Beran |first=Dale |date=11 August 2020 |title=The Return of Anonymous |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/08/hacker-group-anonymous-returns/615058/ |work=The Atlantic |access-date=25 August 2020 }}

The modern incarnation of the website was primarily known for hosting discussions about psychoactive drugs legal and illegal.{{Cite book|last=Olson|first=Parmy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncGVPtoZPHcC&q=420chan+drugs&pg=PT403 |title=We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency |date=2012-06-05 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |isbn=978-0-316-21353-0 |quote=420chan is known for its discussion of drugs. |page=403}} The site was also known for its LGBT discussion boards, /cd//cd/ {{Em dash}} "Transgender Discussion". and /sd/,/sd/ {{Em dash}} "Sexuality Discussion". as well as the wrestling board, /wooo/.{{Cite book |last=Sauerbier|first=Rachel Ann |url=https://csuchico-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/10211.4_336/4%2018%202011%20Rachel%20Sauerbier.pdf?sequence=1 |title=Word is out: the use of social media sites during the coming out process |publisher=California State University, Chico |year=2011 |pages=8, 52}}

As of 1 June 2022, 420chan's main URL, 420chan.org, went offline. On 20 April 2023, the domain was sold to Fredrick Brennan for $4,200 in Ethereum, and a temporary landing page went up.