In 2019, Jim Watkins, a veteran of the imageboard community, took over as 8chan's administrator. Watkins, who had previously managed the site's /x/ board (dedicated to paranormal and conspiracy theories), implemented a series of changes aimed at curbing hate speech and extremism. These included:
The turning point for the "/x/" board came when a group of users and moderators decided to take matters into their own hands. A coalition of long-time users, many of whom had grown disillusioned with the board's state, banded together to create a new system for managing content and users. zoo 8chan fixed