2channel has two predecessors: Ayashii World created in 1996 by Shiba Masayuki, and Amezou ( あめぞう), created in 1997. Textboards like 2channel were rooted in two earlier technologies: dial-in bulletin boards, known in Japan as grass roots bulletin boards ( 草の根BBS), and Usenet. Meanwhile, Amezou, and 2channel, were laid out in the more familiar textboard format, where threads are ordered by their last post unless the user specifically chooses not to make their post bump the thread. Meanwhile, 2ch.sc then had 826 boards receiving around 5,700 posts daily. As of July 2020, 5channel had 1,031 boards receiving around 2.7 million posts per day on weekends, with no growth since March 2016. In September 2007, 2channel averaged over 2.4 million posts per day. In 2012, 2channel was accused by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police of allowing its platform to be used by amphetamine dealers, although no charges were filed. Announcements of crimes also have drawn scrutiny towards 2channel and its successors. Defamation is of particular concern by August 2008, Nishimura had received more than one hundred lawsuits for defamatory comments left on the website. This has resulted in two textboards claiming to be the legitimate 2channel: 2ch.sc, owned by Nishimura through Packet Monster Inc., and 5channel ( 5ちゃんねる, go channeru, domain 5ch.net), established in 2017 by redirect from the original domain and owned by Watkins through Philippines-based Loki Technology Inc.Ģchannel and its successors are more controversial than other social media in Japan they are extremely popular among Japan's extreme right-wing, known as the netto-uyoku, who post xenophobic comments, often targeting Koreans. In February 2014, Watkins seized the 2ch.net domain, taking full control over the website and assuming the role of site administrator. In 2009, ownership of the site was transferred to Singapore-based Packet Monster Inc., under which Nishimura remained in control. The site was hosted and had its domain registration provided by Jim Watkins, based in San Francisco, California. At the time, the site drew an annual revenue of around ¥100 million (about US$1 million), and was the largest of its kind in the world, with around ten million visitors and 2.5 million posts made per day. Described in 2007 as 'Japan's most popular online community', the site had a level of influence comparable to that of traditional mass media such as television, radio, and magazines.

Japanese, with a small minority of boards in English Ģchannel ( Japanese: 2ちゃんねる, Hepburn: ni channeru), also known as 2ch, Channel 2, and sometimes retrospectively as 2ch.net, was an anonymous Japanese textboard founded in 1999 by Hiroyuki Nishimura. Disputed (since 19 February 2014 9 years ago ( ))

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