# Rules of the Internet > Rules of the Internet are a 2006 copypasta list from 4chan's Anonymous community, with Rule 34 ("if it exists, porn of it exists") and Rule 63 becoming widely known internet maxims. The Rules of the Internet are a loose, ever-expanding collection of unofficial guidelines and in-jokes that originated from 4chan's Anonymous community in late 2006. Modeled loosely on netiquette and Fight Club's famous first two rules, the list codified the unwritten norms of imageboard culture into numbered maxims. While most rules shift depending on who's sharing them, a handful broke containment and became internet-wide common knowledge, most notably Rule 34 ("If it exists, there is porn of it") and Rule 63 ("For every male character, there is a female version")[4]. ## Origin The concept grew out of conversations in Anonymous-related IRC channels sometime in late 2006[4]. Users wanted to create a set of guidelines for 4chan's culture, similar to the netiquette standards that governed older internet communities like Usenet[7]. The first formal entry was submitted to Encyclopedia Dramatica sometime before January 10, 2007, when it was first archived[4]. At that point, the entry listed only 18 rules despite claiming 48 existed. The submission sparked heavy debate on Encyclopedia Dramatica's discussion pages and forums[4]. The list's first two rules directly riffed on Fight Club: "Rule 1: You don't talk about /b/. Rule 2: You DON'T talk about /b/"[9]. These were created by someone in 4chan's /b/ section who treated the board like a secret club[9]. The Anonymous identity rules ("We are Anonymous. We are legion") drew on the imageboard's default username for unregistered posters, turning a technical default into a collective identity[11]. - **Platform:** 4chan / Anonymous IRC channels, Encyclopedia Dramatica (first documented) - **Creator:** Unknown (community-created by Anonymous users on 4chan and related IRC channels) - **Date:** 2006 ## Overview The Rules of the Internet are a numbered set of tongue-in-cheek commandments that attempt to describe how the internet actually works, rather than how anyone thinks it should work. The list covers everything from trolling etiquette ("Do not argue with trolls, it means they win") to blunt observations about online behavior ("Anything you say can and will be used against you")[1]. No single canonical version exists. The numbering shifts between versions, rules get added or removed, and entire sections contradict each other. That instability is sort of the point. The only consistently numbered entries across versions are Rule 34 (porn of everything exists), Rule 50 (varies by version), and Rule 63 (gender-swapped versions of every character exist)[1]. Rules 1 and 2, borrowed directly from Fight Club's "You do not talk about Fight Club," were repurposed as "You do not talk about /b/"[9]. The first several rules lean heavily on Anonymous identity markers: "We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget"[11]. ## How It Spread On February 15, 2007, a set of 50 rules was posted to 4chan's text-based discussion board, marking one of the earliest consolidated versions[4]. By June 13, 2007, people were already asking Yahoo! Answers where to find the original list, with top answers pointing back to Encyclopedia Dramatica[4]. A dedicated wiki-style site for the Rules launched in December 2007, aiming to document every version circulating online[4]. When the Internet Archive first captured the site in October 2008, it already listed 180 rules. In January 2008, a set of 100 rules was added to Urban Dictionary[6]. By June 2012, the wiki site had rules numbering in the 900s[4], though most of the higher-numbered entries were joke submissions or hyper-niche references that nobody outside the original community would recognize. The list also found its way to the Internet Archive as a community text, uploaded by a user named "Armonteon" on February 19, 2009[3]. Encyclopedia Dramatica maintained its own parallel version, which had 47 rules as of June 2012[4]. ## How to Use The Rules of the Internet aren't a meme template in the traditional sense. People typically reference them in a few ways: 1. **Citing specific rules in conversation:** Someone posts questionable content, and another user replies "Rule 34" as shorthand. Someone tries to recruit a forum for a personal vendetta, and others invoke "Rule 10: Not your personal army." 2. **Sharing the full list:** Usually done as a rite of passage for internet newcomers, or nostalgically when discussing early internet culture. The list commonly circulates as a copypasta or a link to one of the many wiki/archive versions. 3. **Creating new rules:** The numbering system is open-ended, so people add their own entries. Higher-numbered rules tend to be more niche and community-specific. 4. **Using Rule 34/63 as creative prompts:** Fan artists often reference these rules when creating gender-swapped or NSFW versions of characters from popular media. ## Cultural Impact Several individual rules broke out of 4chan and entered mainstream awareness. Rule 34 is the most prominent, with coverage from CNN, the Daily Telegraph, and academic researchers treating it as a genuine observation about internet behavior[5]. The concept was considered significant enough that Charles Stross used it as the title and thematic anchor of a science fiction novel nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2012[10]. The Anonymous identity rules (3 through 7) provided the rhetorical framework for one of the internet's first major activist movements. Project Chanology's protests against Scientology in 2008 demonstrated that imageboard culture could translate into real-world action[11]. The movement's signature phrase, "We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget," became recognizable even to people who had never visited 4chan[11]. The concept of codifying internet behavior into numbered rules also influenced how people talked about online culture more broadly. Netiquette had existed since the Usenet era, with formal guidelines about email signatures, crossposting, and not typing in all caps[7]. The Rules of the Internet flipped that earnest approach on its head, replacing "be polite" with "there are no real rules about posting"[1]. ## Fun Facts - The original Encyclopedia Dramatica entry claimed 48 rules existed but only listed 18[4]. - Rule 34 predates the rest of the list by about three years. The phrase originated in a 2003 webcomic, while the full rules were compiled in late 2006[5]. - 4chan is banned in Australia due to the Christchurch shooting, making the original posts inaccessible to Australian researchers[2]. - The phrase "lurk moar," referenced in many versions of the rules, means a newcomer should spend more time reading before posting[8]. - Rule 0 ("Don't fuck with cats") was added later and directly references the internet's fierce protectiveness of animals, later lending its name to a Netflix documentary[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are the Rules of the Internet? The Rules of the Internet are an unofficial, crowd-sourced list of guidelines and observations about online behavior that originated from 4chan's Anonymous community in late 2006[4]. They range from practical advice ("Do not argue with trolls") to darkly humorous observations ("There is porn of it. No exceptions")[1]. ### Where did the Rules of the Internet come from? The concept was first discussed in Anonymous-related IRC channels before being formally documented on Encyclopedia Dramatica sometime in late 2006, with the earliest archive dating to January 10, 2007[4]. A consolidated set of 50 rules appeared on 4chan on February 15, 2007[4]. ### What does the Rules of the Internet mean? The list attempts to describe how the internet actually functions, covering topics like anonymity, trolling, content reposting, and the inevitability of pornographic fan art[1]. Most entries are satirical but contain a kernel of truth about online culture[2]. ### How do you use the Rules of the Internet? People typically cite individual rules by number as shorthand in online conversations, share the full list as a cultural artifact, or reference specific rules like Rule 34 when the situation fits[1]. ### Are the Rules of the Internet still popular? The full list is mostly a nostalgic reference to mid-2000s internet culture. However, individual rules like Rule 34 and Rule 63 are still widely known and regularly referenced across platforms[5]. ### What is Rule 34? Rule 34 states "There is porn of it. No exceptions." The phrase originated in a 2003 webcomic by Peter Morley-Souter before being incorporated into the broader Rules list[5]. CNN called it "likely the most famous" internet rule in a 2013 report[5]. ### What is Rule 63? Rule 63 states that for every male character, a female version exists and vice versa[1]. It became a foundational concept in fan art and cosplay communities. ### What are Rules 1 and 2? Borrowed from Fight Club, they state "You don't talk about /b/" and "You DON'T talk about /b/"[9]. They were originally meant to keep 4chan's most chaotic board away from mainstream attention. ### Who created the Rules of the Internet? No single author is known. The rules were collaboratively created by anonymous 4chan users and people in related IRC channels, then first documented on Encyclopedia Dramatica[4]. ### How many Rules of the Internet are there? The number depends on the version. The first documented set had 18 rules, an early 4chan post listed 50, Urban Dictionary had 100, and a dedicated wiki site reached 900+ entries by 2012[4][6]. ### What is the connection between the Rules and Anonymous? Rules 3 through 7 directly define the Anonymous identity: "We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget"[11]. These rules later became the rallying cry for hacktivist movements like Project Chanology[11]. ### Is there a canonical version of the Rules? No. Multiple versions circulate with different numbering and different rules. The only consistently numbered entries across versions are Rule 34, Rule 63, and Rules 1 and 2[1]. ## References 1. [Rules of the Internet - TV Tropes]() 2. ["RULES OF THE INTERNET"]() 3. [Rules of the Internet. : Anonymous. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive]() 4. [Rules of the Internet - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Rule 34]() 6. [Rules of the Internet - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [Etiquette in technology - Wikipedia]() 8. [Urban Dictionary: lurk moar]() 9. [Urban Dictionary: rules 1 and 2]() 10. [Rule 34 (novel) - Wikipedia]() 11. [We Are Anonymous, We Are Legion – by “Scott S” – Yale Law Tech]() 12. [Yahoo Search - Web Search]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/rules-of-the-internet Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library