Rule 34 (Internet meme)

The exact origin of Rule 34 is unknown, though it may have originated from a 2003 webcomic, captioned "Rule #34 There is porn of it. No exceptions.", which was drawn by Peter Morley-Souter to depict his shock at seeing Calvin and Hobbes parody porn.[3][4] Morley-Souter posted his comic on the United Kingdom website Zoom-Out in 2004, and it has been widely reproduced.

Internet users have made Rule 34 into a prevalent meme, owing to the ubiquity of Internet pornography, especially among genres such as fan fiction, slash fiction and hentai.[1]

In May 2007, a Rule 34 database was launched on Paheal.net with a searchable archive of Rule 34 images,[5] and similar sites began appearing soon after.[6][7] On August 20th that year, the webcomic xkcd published a comic titled “Rule 34”, which involved hypothetical sexual scenarios including homoerotic spelling bees.[8]

In 2008, users of the imageboard 4chan posted numerous sexually explicit parodies and cartoons illustrating Rule 34. In the special argot of 4chan request forums, "porn" is called rule 34, Pr0nz.[9] One dictionary of neologisms claims that Rule 34 "began appearing on Internet postings in 2008."[10] In 2007, a TV Tropes page for the rule was created.[11]

As Rule 34 continued spreading on the Internet, traditional media began reporting on it. A 2009 Daily Telegraph article listed Rule 34 as third of the "Top 10" Internet rules and laws.[12] A 2013 CNN story said Rule 34 was "likely the most famous" Internet rule that has become part of mainstream culture.[13] On November 14th, 2018, a twitch streamer celebrated turning eighteen by posting a video to Twitter in which he looked up Rule 34 pictures. The popular video and its responses were covered by The Daily Dot.[14]

According to researchers Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam, "Today, Rule 34 thrives as sacred lore on blogs, YouTube videos, Twitter feeds and social networking sites. It's frequently used as a verb, as in 'I Rule 34'ed Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell on the judging table'." They propose the reason why the maxim resonated with so many people is because it "certainly seems true" for "anybody who has spent time surfing the Web."[15]

Cory Doctorow concludes, "Rule 34 can be thought of as a kind of indictment of the Web as a cesspit of freaks, geeks, and weirdos, but seen through the lens of cosmopolitanism," which "bespeaks a certain sophistication—a gourmet approach to life."[16]

The original rule was rephrased and reiterated as it went viral on the Web. Some common permutations omit the original "No exceptions."

• "Rule 34: There is porn of it."[17]
• "Rule 34: If it exists, there is porn of it."[18]
• "Rule 34: If it exists, there is Internet porn of it."[18]
• "Rule 34: If you can imagine it, it exists as Internet porn."[15]

The conundrum of finding an Internet pornographic exception to Rule 34's "No exceptions" led to the Rule 35 corollary. On 12 October 2006, an early "Rules of the Internet" list, posted to the cyberculture wiki Encyclopedia Dramatica, included:

• "Rule 34: There is porn of it, no exceptions."
• "Rule 35: If no porn is found at the moment, it will be made."

Another expression of these rules is:

• "Rule 34: If it exists there is porn of it. No exceptions."
• "Rule 35: The exception to Rule 34 is the citation of Rule 34."[19]

Thus, "The rules suggest that if you can think of a pornographic scenario, theme, or style—no matter how esoteric or unlikely it may seem—then such porn will already have been made, and it will be available online. If this is not the case, then it is only a matter of time before such porn is made."[20]

• Cartoon pornography
• Hentai
• Godwin's law
• List of Internet phenomena
• Poe's law
• Deepfake pornography

Look up Rule 34 in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Rules of the Internet 1000 Rules
• Rules of the Internet, Urban Dictionary

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