Infohazard is slang for information that harms whoever acquires it, a concept originally defined by philosopher Nick Bostrom and later adopted as a joke label on social media.

What does Infohazard mean?

In Bostrom's definition it means a risk from spreading true information that enables harm; online, it is used more loosely for any fact a poster claims will mentally damage the reader.

How do you use Infohazard?

Posters tag a cursed factoid, clip or opinion with the word infohazard, often adding SCP-style class labels like Class IV or Keter-class as a mock warning to anyone who scrolls past.

Is Infohazard still popular?

Posts using the term appeared across major platforms into 2023 and the SCP Foundation wiki still maintains an active infohazard tag, so the slang is still in circulation.

Infohazard

Q: Where did Infohazard come from?

Nick Bostrom coined information hazard in his 2011 paper Information Hazards: A Typology of Potential Harms from Knowledge, and SCP Foundation fiction later carried the term into online usage.

2011slang / catchphrasesemi-active

Published October 30, 2026

Infohazard refers to information that harms whoever learns it, a term coined by Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom in a 2011 academic paper. SCP Foundation writers carried the concept into online fandom, and by 2021 Twitter users were labeling Chris-Chan trivia and cursed takes as Class IV infohazards in SCP-style mock warnings.

creepypasta memes slang memes horror memes cursed content memes collaborative fiction memes

Overview

Infohazard posts work by labeling some piece of knowledge as something the reader will regret reading. Writers often slap SCP-style class labels on their subject, declaring a joke Keter-class threat or a Class IV infohazard to the brain, so the gag sits on the gap between the gravity of the term and the triviality of what gets flagged3.

Common targets include Chris-Chan trivia, divisive political discourse like the learn-to-code meme, and body-horror factoids such as locking your knees too hard cutting off circulation3. Urban Dictionary defines the slang as information that can be dangerous to know about, listing exactly those kinds of self-sabotage anatomy facts as examples5. Posters use infohazard as a mock disclaimer the post itself never honors, since reading the warning means the damage is already done.

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Origin & Background

Platform

Academic paper (origin) / Twitter and SCP Foundation (viral spread)

Creator

Nick Bostrom; meme usage creator unknown

Date

2011

Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom coined information hazard in a 2011 paper titled Information Hazards: A Typology of Potential Harms from Knowledge1. He defined it as a risk that arises from the dissemination of true information that may cause harm or enable some agent to cause harm1. The real-world idea predates the label itself, with classified military intel being a textbook case of knowledge that endangers whoever carries it3.

Horror fiction gave the word its online currency before Twitter picked it up. H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos features the Yellow Sign, a symbol that places readers under the King in Yellow's control6. The SCP Foundation collaborative wiki later made the trope central to its catalog, with SCP-2521 as the signature example: a Keter-class entity that attacks anyone who speaks or writes its name2.

How It Spread

The SCP Foundation site runs an infohazard tag that collects anomalies defined by the danger of learning about them, giving writers and readers a shared vocabulary for the trope throughout the 2010s4. That vocabulary leaked out of SCP fandom into general Twitter and Tumblr usage as the wiki's reach widened.

On July 30, 2021, Twitter user @bartsimsonreal called Chris-Chan a Class IV infohazard, importing SCP's object classification system into casual slang3. By early 2023, more posts using the term appeared across major social platforms, with Twitter user @powerbottomdad1 labeling the learn to code meme an infohazard on March 2, 2023, applying the word to political discourse instead of paranormal fiction3.

Timeline

2011

Nick Bostrom publishes Information Hazards: A Typology of Potential Harms from Knowledge, coining the term[1].

2014-10

SCP-2521 is added to the SCP Foundation wiki as a Keter-class entity that attacks anyone who speaks its name[2].

2021-07-30

Twitter user @bartsimsonreal calls Chris-Chan a Class IV infohazard, importing SCP terminology into casual slang[3].

2023-03-02

Twitter user @powerbottomdad1 labels the learn to code meme an infohazard, extending the term to political discourse[3].

How to Use This Meme

A typical infohazard post sets up a factoid, screenshot or clip, then labels it with mock SCP terminology like Class IV or Keter-class, warning the audience that reading further damages them. Some posters use the word on its own as a one-word reaction to something they find mentally cursed, often paired with a quote retweet of the offending content.