Crucially, the administration interpreted the Dost test to mean that any content that did not explicitly violate United States federal law regarding CSAM was permissible. Because bestiality/zoophilia occupies a complex legal gray area in the US (illegal in many states but not federally classified in the same manner as CSAM), the site administration refused to ban these boards, arguing that to do so would violate their commitment to being a "free speech platform."
The "zoo 8chan" phenomenon remains a case study in the "free speech vs. harm" debate. Critics argue that 8chan’s refusal to moderate "zoo" content facilitated real-world animal abuse. Law enforcement agencies globally have used archives from these boards to track down individuals involved in the production of illegal animal cruelty videos. Conclusion zoo 8chan