For almost three months, QAnon conspiracy theorists have been anxiously awaiting the return of 8chan , the defunct, extremist-friendly message board thats integral to their far-right fringe movement. The sites administrators have been scrambling under mounting pressure to bring it back online, but at each turn, theyve encountered an unlikely adversary: 8chans own creator.

As the self-described Darkest Reaches of the Internet, 8chan is an anonymous, minimally moderated platform where bigotry, depravity and violence have been not only tolerated but encouraged, leading to the radicalization of some of its millions of users . The site has faced an uncertain future since August, when its network provider pulled it offline in the wake of an alleged 8chan radicals shooting rampage.

That massacre, which targeted Mexican immigrants in El Paso, Texas, was the third 8chan-linked terror attack in five months. Prior to gunning down their victims, all three accused perpetrators posted hateful screeds to 8chan, where they were lauded after the bloodshed.

With 8chan now inaccessible, the message boards hordes of displaced hatemongers are searching for a new place to share vile content without retreating to the dark web. Proponents of QAnon, a hyperpartisan, cult-like conspiracy theory network , have grown particularly restless. 8chan was their only verifiable line of communication with their mysterious leader, Q, a person (or people) who claims to be a government insider. Q would post cryptic messages to 8chan under a unique user ID, or tripcode, but has been silent since 8chan went dark.

8chan owner Jim Watkins, a rumored QAnon supporter himself, has been trying to fill his sites void in recent weeks by resurrecting it as 8kun. But behind the scenes, anti-extremism activists have been blocking his efforts by tracking which web service companies hes been attempting to use to launch 8kun, then lobbying those firms not to do business with him.

Spearheading that campaign is 25-year-old 8chan founder Fredrick Brennan.

8kun will be just as bad as 8chan, Brennan, who sold 8chan to Watkins in 2016, told HuffPost in an interview from his home in Quezon City, Philippines, on Thursday. Its a bad-faith rebrand.