Website 8chan crashes hours after announcement that network services would be terminated

In the wake of back-to-back mass shootings believed to have been motivated by white supremacy, notorious message board 8chan has finally crashed.

There had been calls to terminate the forum before, which had become home to a cesspool of extremist imagery and bigoted rhetoric.

After it was revealed that the suspected Texas Walmart gunman is believed to have posted a "manifesto" justifying his violent actions on 8chan, even the site's founder said it provided a "receptive audience for domestic terrorists" and should be shut down.

As of Monday night (NZ time), the website could not be reached - an error message citing the IP address cannot be found.

Earlier, network provider Cloudflare announced it would terminate 8chan's service at midnight PDT - 7pm NZT.

"The rationale is simple: they have proven themselves to be lawless and that lawlessness has caused multiple tragic deaths," Cloudfare chief executive Matthew Prince wrote in a blog post.

Fredrick Brennan, the 25-year-old founder of 8chan, publicly thanked Cloudflare for terminating his creation.

In March, the alleged Christchurch gunman used 8chan to post links to the livestream of the massacre, as well as a document detailing his hatred for Muslims and immigration.

Newshub.