/pol/
From Chan Top List, the imageboard wiki.
/pol/ ('Politically Incorrect') is a 4chan board created in November 2011 to absorb political discussion that had spread across other boards. It quickly became one of the site's most active boards and, after 2014, one of the most academically studied sites on the public internet for its role in online political subcultures. Coverage is presented here as cultural history.
Origin
The board was created by 4chan administration as a containment space for political content that had been spilling onto unrelated boards. It absorbed the older /new/ board (news), which had been deleted earlier that year.
Academic study
Researchers from institutions including the Network Contagion Research Institute and the Oxford Internet Institute have published peer-reviewed work analyzing /pol/'s posting patterns, its relationship to mainstream news cycles, and its role in the spread of internet memes into political contexts. The board is a frequent case study in research on online radicalization.
Cultural footprint
/pol/ was the launching point or amplifier for several memes that crossed over into mainstream political discourse, including the use of Pepe the Frog as a political symbol from 2015 onward, an evolution that the character's creator Matt Furie publicly opposed.
External links
See also
- 4chan — English-language imageboard founded in 2003, modeled on Japan's Futaba Channel. One of the most influential sites in internet culture.
- 8chan / 8kun — Imageboard founded in 2013 that allowed any user to create their own board. Subject of major controversies and a 2019 deplatforming.
- Pepe the Frog — Comic character created by artist Matt Furie in 2005 that became one of the most widespread, and contested, internet memes of the 2010s.
- Anonymous (collective) — Loosely organized hacktivist movement that emerged from 4chan in the late 2000s, famous for Project Chanology.
This page was last updated on April 29, 2026.