In a strange, innuendo-filled rant published Monday, the administrator of the far-right social networking platform Voat called it quits, spreading shockwaves across far-right image boards and social networks. Adding to President Trump’s failure to secure an election victory or overturn his stinging defeat, the loss of Voat spells another setback for QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy theory movement whose supporters found a home in the soon-to-be defunct web forum.
This isn’t the first time Voat has neared the precipice of annihilation, but it may be the last. A site that aspired to become the Reddit of the far right at its founding in 2014, Voat immediately gained notoriety as a hub for racists and ableists after the banning of racist and fatphobic subreddits. Priding itself on a lack of moderation, Voat faced a shutdown the following year by its German web host for providing a platform for illegal right-wing extremism.
Like other “dark web” sites peopled by white supremacists, Voat users also traded in images that sexualize children, leading PayPal to halt services later in 2015. While the site circumvented the bans by accepting Bitcoin and venture capital, in 2017, the admins announced an imminent collapse. Yet according to its admin, Justin Chastain, an “Angel” donor stepped in to keep the network afloat.
