Alternatively, users may select a 'meme flag' (also referred to as a 'troll flag'), corresponding to various political identifiers. A national flag corresponding to the user's geographic location (based on their IP address, which could be manipulated using a proxy server) may be displayed. Outside of traditional news sources, users also commonly rely on alternative media such as YouTube commentary as a source of news. A 2020 report categorized about 36% of news sources frequently posted to the board by American users as ' junk news', a category that includes sources considered to be propaganda, sensationalist, or conspiracy theory content. Screenshot of the front (catalog) page of /pol/ in December 2019, with each discussion thread indicated by an imageĬommon /pol/ content involves discussion of history, far-right ideologies, hatred of black people, and current news.
