9gag largely plagiarizes content from creator-focused community forums such as SA, newgrounds, ytmnd, and the more tame parts of 4chan; later also reddit and IG.
how is that at all relevant? most people still see them on that website..
It can't be a foudation if it's plagiarizing, and it can't be a culture if it's consumption rather than participatory.
Fair point for the last, but what did Picasso say already about stealing?
9gag is not plagiarism like "did not acknowledge major inspirations" or even "did a remix but didn't credit anyone" but "copied, [sometimes] filed off serial numbers, and pasted".