An arrest has been issued in the Philippines for the founder of notorious, lawless website 8chan.
Fredrick Brennan, who has lived in the Asian nation since moving there in 2014 for work, has fled back to his native United States after a court issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of 'cyber libel' last week, Vice News reports.
Since cutting ties with 8chan in 2018, Brennan has been in a war of words with its current owner Jim Watkins, who also resides in the Philippines.
Last year Brennan called for the uncensored forum to be taken offline after it became a popular place for white supremacists to hang out, and even post their hateful manifestos before going on murderous rampages - a trend started by the alleged Christchurch gunman.
Brennan also took issue with the site's growing QAnon community - a group of hardcore Donald Trump supporters who believe in a wide range of bizarre conspiracy theories. The FBI has deemed the QAnon group a domestic terror threat.
Watkins refused to take the site offline, prompting Brennan to call him senile. Watkins laid a complaint of cyber libel - which carries a potential jail sentence of up to 12 years.
"It would basically be a death sentence even for only a week for somebody in my medically frail condition," Brennan - now in Los Angeles - told Vice News.
Brennan suffers from brittle bone disease and is confined to a wheelchair.
He has filed an appeal against the indictment and says he won't go back until the warrant is dropped.
8chan went offline late last year after its service providers cut them off. It's since reemerged under another name.
