People cannot post whatever they want on 4chan. On boards such as /g/, and /sci/, any off topic discussion is banned, including blatantly racist content. Other than that, there is free discussion that can be quite enlightening. And just because you choose to use a website does not mean you agree with the fringes. Just because you're a reddit user, and reddit has gore subreddits, are you into gore?

You make 4chan sounds like a utopia. Clearly you've never seen the revenge porn, gore, doxxing, etc that happens (or at least used to happen, havent been there in years) on b/.

why the hell would anyone go on /b/? Same reason no one goes to reddit/r/nsfl

And honestly, 4chan really is a utopia compared to orange reddit. Removing identities makes conversations less about how the individual appears and more about the substance of the topic.

So you agree that unmoderated communities result in cesspools? We took the scenic route, but I'm glad we arrived at my point eventually.

This thread is talking about an example of doxxing on a much larger scale than anything that has ever happened on 4chan. What's your point?

My point is what my original comment says.

Older than that, here’s a take from 2004: https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19

reddit is the same thing. not all of 4chan is bad. not all of reddit is bad. but there is bad on both. it has nothing to do with the website it’s the format

The difference is that reddit at least tries to moderate calls to violence and hate speech.

They don't always do a good job of it, though.

AFAIK 4chan is also moderated to an extent, which is what lead to 8chan/others.

4chan is moderated

The whole reason 8chan was created was because they were kicked off of 4chan for disgusting behavior (specifically doxing/harassing game journalists)

I think it's also that unmoderated forums become a magnet for people who want to spew hate, rather than anonymity inherently leading regular people into such behavior (though maybe the former causes some of the latter).