Founder of site 8chan where the El Paso shooter posted his manifesto calls for it to be shut down

How do they know that shutting it down would achieve anything.  It might just make the nutters more angry

The founder of the online message board 8chan is calling on its operators to shut it down completely after the alleged gunman who carried out the El Paso massacre on Saturday posted an extremist manifesto on the site moments before the shooting.

Fredrick Brennan, a 25-year-old American software developer, started 8chan in 2013. Brennan founded 8chan as a ‘free speech friendly 4chan alternative,’ he told The New York Times.

The imageboard site 4chan, which was created in 2003, allows people to post content anonymously. It is considered one of the more visited sites on the internet.

Initially, the 8chan site founded by Brennan was unmoderated, allowing users to post whatever content they wanted, no matter how shocking or offensive.

But 8chan has turned into a prime destination for white nationalists who celebrate mass shootings.

Now Brennan, who ended his relationship with the site and its current owner, Jim Watkins, last year, says the time has come to close it down for good in order to reduce the risk of more bloodshed.

Three mass shootings which have taken place this year - the mosque massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand; the synagogue shooting in Poway, California; and the El Paso shootings from Saturday - were announced beforehand on 8chan.

In the first few years of the site’s existence, it attracted a modest, fringe following. But in 2014, supporters of GamerGate began using 8chan en masse after they were kicked off 4chan.

GamerGate is the online campaign of sexual harassment and threats aimed at female members of the video game community.

The site has also attracted a large following of the believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which alleges that a ‘deep state’ of bureaucrats is plotting to overthrow the Trump administration.

Watkins, who lives in the Philippines, runs 8chan with his son, Ronald.  He has resisted public pressure to shut down the site or moderate its content.

SOURCE