Instead of the usual perverse flood of content this morning, 4chan users awoke to an enraging surprise on April Fools' Day.
Emblazoned across many of the site’s boards was a bald eagle holding a gavel and a four-leaf clover, a play on the seal of the United States.
Above the image, a banner read, “This board has been closed by order of the Department of 4chan Efficiency.”
Spoofing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), moderators shut down swathes of the site, leaving users befuddled and enraged.
Whoever was behind the prank did not offer much by way of reasoning, only confusing things more when some boards began to reappear with a new header.
“In order to maximize productivity and eliminate abuse," it read, "the Department of 4chan Efficiency is reorganizing certain 4chan boards.”
On /pol/, one of the site’s most active boards, which appeared to escape the shutdown, users fumed and tried to figure out what was going on.
Some claimed that the website was censoring certain groups and ideas. Users bounced around ideas that the closures were an attempt to silence anti-Israel critics or to prevent cryptocurrency traders from gathering to discuss trades.
Frustrated by the discourse from those who hadn’t registered the spoof as an April Fools' Joke, another wrote, “Look at today's date you fucking zoomtards.”
Others tried to decipher the logic of the closures. One 4chan user speculated that the most heavily used boards were being blocked, making life more efficient for moderators.
But popular boards seem to be less impacted, according to the site 4stats.io, which tracks usage on the site. While boards like /pol/ and one for video games are open, smaller ones for cooking and literature remain down.
Regardless of the logic, the prank left users upset, the site mocked for its “least effort April Fools joke.”
“Fuck you and your gay efficiently department,” one user wrote, “Fuck you for killing the only good thread on this godforsaken site.”
“Is this the worst april fools joke there has ever been?” asked another.
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