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For the realistic fiction novel by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein, see I Funny.

iFunny is a humor-based website and mobile application developed by Cyprus-based FunCorp,[1][2][3] an entertainment technology company,[4] that consists of memes in the form of images, videos, and animated GIFs submitted by its users. The mobile version of the site once featured a built-in meme creator tool. The app describes itself as a “community for meme lovers and viral memes around the internet.”[5]

History

The application first launched on 26 April 2011 for iOS devices, and on 25 November 2011 for Android.[5] On 11 April 2013, iFunny.co went up as the desktop alternative to the application. In the US Mobile App Report, iFunny was listed as one of the most downloaded apps in the US[4] and as of 2023 has been downloaded over 70 million times in the United States.[6]

Content

iFunny is available on the web and as an app.[7] It is divided into sections curated by moderators, and includes a section to follow subscribed accounts.[7] It is run by David Chef, known as Cheffy by the iFunny community.[7]

Along the left side of the homepage is the “memes catalog”, in which general topics are listed including cars, gaming, and sports.[8]

The site has guidelines that ban threats and hateful propaganda, but they do allow “dark humor”.[8] It claims to use “manual pre-moderation” to filter content that violates its guidelines.[8] iFunny’s policies allow political satire and opinion, but prohibit support for specific parties or candidates.[9] The site offers a safety lock to prevent others from seeing what memes users have looked at.[4]

Extremist incidents

Some users and content on the website have been associated with extremist ideologies.[7][10][11][12]

According to Vice News in November 2019, the neo-Nazi hate group The Base was posting recruitment propaganda on iFunny. One user, using the alias “MemeMercenary”, posted QR codes to encourage users to contact the extremist group.[10]

On 12 January 2018, 20-year-old Samuel Woodward was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the stabbing of Blaze Bernstein. Woodward is a member of the neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwaffen Division.[13] Woodward had a large following on iFunny under the moniker “Saboteur”, and often posted content that was racist, violent, or related to white supremacy.[14] He had drifted away from iFunny in the last year and deleted the “Saboteur” account. iFunny users turned Bernstein’s death into a meme and showed support for Woodward.[15][16]

On 7 August 2019, 18-year-old Justin Olsen from Boardman Township, Ohio, was arrested for making posts on iFunny under his username “ArmyofChrist” that threatened federal agents over their heavily criticized response during the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff. His account had nearly 6k subscribers at the time of his arrest, and on it he glorified mass shootings and fantasized over a holy war between Christians and Muslims. The FBI found over 10,000 rounds of ammunition and 25 guns at his home that he shared with his parents, all of which were legally registered in his father’s name. He told authorities that the posts he made were in a joking manner.[7] Olsen was subsequently released from jail with 3 years probation in July 2020.

On 16 August 2019, the FBI arrested 19-year-old Farhan Sheikh for iFunny posts threatening to murder people at a women’s health clinic that was less than 5 miles away from his home. On a post, he wrote that he would “proceed to slaughter and murder any doctor, patient or visitor.” He posted that his iFunny account was “NOT a satirical account. I post what I mean, and i WILL carry out what I post [sic]”.[5]

On 28 May 2020, 19-year-old Alexander Treisman was initially arrested for carrying concealed weapons and was separately indicted for possession of child pornography, but was later discovered to have made posts on Reddit and iFunny threatening to assassinate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. In one iFunny post, he said, “Should I kill Joe Biden?”. He was found in a van with four rifles, a 9mm handgun, explosive materials, and books on bomb making. Police subsequently found 6,721 images and 1,248 videos of child pornography on eight different digital devices.[17]

On 12 March 2021, 21-year-old Joshua Doctor from Holland, Michigan, was arrested and charged with terrorism for making death threats towards Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Gretchen Whitmer on iFunny. In the posts, he wrote that he would “be the catalyst” for a revolution. Bomb-making instructions were found on his smartphone, according to prosecutors.[18] According to Chief Information Officer Denis Litvinov, the post violated the platform’s policies and guidelines against violence.[18]

References

  1. ^ Zakrzewski, Cat; Lerman, Rachel (2020-11-07). “No social media is safe: How election misinformation spread on LinkedIn, Pinterest and Nextdoor”. Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2021-01-08. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  2. ^ Litvinov, Denis (2020-08-10). “Council Post: Is The Future In Anonymous Social Apps?”. Forbes. Archived from the original on 2026-06-16. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  3. ^ “FUNCORP LIMITED – Cyprus Limited Company”. CyprusRegistry. Archived from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  4. ^ a b c Derby, Carmelia (2022-12-07). “Best Entertainment Apps: for your phone”. Compsmag: Best Products Reviews & How to Guides. Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  5. ^ a b c Levenson, Eric (21 August 2019). “This little-known meme site has hosted two mass shooting threats this month”. CNN. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  6. ^ “Products”. FunCorp. 19 March 2024. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e Broderick, Ryan (14 August 2019). “iFunny Has Become A Hub For White Nationalism”. BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Levenson, Eric (21 August 2019). “This little-known meme site has hosted two mass shooting threats this month”. CNN. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  9. ^ Zakrzewski, Cat (2020-11-07). “No social media is safe: How election misinformation spread on LinkedIn, Pinterest and Nextdoor”. Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2021-01-08. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  10. ^ a b Mack Lamoureux, Mack (14 November 2019). “Neo-Nazi Terror Groups Are Using iFunny to Recruit”. Vice. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  11. ^ Broderick, Ryan (26 August 2019). “iFunny Is Trying To Fix Its Far-Right Problem By Shutting Up Its Moderators”. BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  12. ^ Broderick, Ryan (26 August 2019). “iFunny Moderators Say They Have A Nazi Problem That The Site’s Leaders Won’t Fix”. BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  13. ^ Olmstead, Molly (2018-01-31). “The Man Suspected of Killing Blaze Bernstein Attended a Three-Day Nazi “Hate Camp”“. Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  14. ^ “Photo shows ‘Ivy League killer’ pretending to crush friend’s skull”. The New York Post. 20 January 2018. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  15. ^ “The Man Accused Of Killing His Gay Classmate Was Sexually ‘Confused,’ Attorney Says”. BuzzFeed News. 22 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2023-05-07. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  16. ^ “Photo shows ‘Ivy League killer’ pretending to crush friend’s skull”. New York Post. 2018-01-20. Archived from the original on 2023-04-03. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  17. ^ “A 19-year-old with a van full of guns and explosives plotted to assassinate Biden, federal officials say”. Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  18. ^ a b Shamsian, Jacob. “A Michigan man was charged with making death threats to Biden, Pelosi, and Whitmer on a meme website”. Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2023-03-20.