Free Republic Was Down for a Grueling Several Hours, So What Happened to the Online Forum?

The online forum and political website known as Free Republic suddenly stopped loading late at night on Sept. 7, 2025. Users took to other social media platforms to share the status of the website and wonder if others were experiencing the same outage. But what most people wanted to know was what happened to Free Republic and whether or not it would be back.

Hours later, users were able to post on the website again, and all was right in the right-wing world of the online forum. Free Republic was created in the '90s by founder Jim Robinson, per Sage Publications. The website is a collection of forums where users contribute commentary or post their own thoughts with a conservative slant in politics. Hours after it went down on Sept. 7, Free Republic was back early on Sept. 8. But in the time it was down, there was a lot of speculation.

After users began reporting Free Republic outages online, users commented on the Is It Down Right Now? website to share their thoughts about what happened. Those who criticize the website and its right-wing political commentary wrote in a thread on the website detector site that Free Republic shut down because of meager donations from users.

Because the site runs on donations, some believed that Free Republic was forced to shut down because it didn't have the funds to remain active. Apparently, however, that's not the case. Owner Jim posted on the thread on Is It Down Right Now? and shared that it was a simple server issue that he was working to resolve.

"Whoa. Didn't know we could leave comments here," Jim wrote. "Sorry folks our system is still down, John is working on it. Hope to have it up soon."

Not long after he left that comment, the website was back up, complete with new threads about the outage. But before Free Republic was back, there was a battle between keyboard warriors over on Is It Down Right Now? that pointed to a reason why conservatives seem to gravitate toward the online forum.

In comments about the outage, those who are against Free Republic criticized Donald Trump. Others who were eager for Free Republic to return clapped back at any and all comments that painted Trump and Free Republic in a negative light.

Although Free Republic founder Jim commented that the website was down, but that it was being worked on quickly to get it back up and running, the theories about Free Republic running out of money stemmed from how it gets money. Free Republic is run on non-tax-deductible donations. There is even a space on its home page where users are told where to send physical checks or where to donate electronically.

"Free Republic is not a traditional business," the home page for Free Republic explains. "We are a political discussion forum and independent grassroots conservative activist group supported by donations from our readers and participants. When and if our participants decide we are no longer needed or viable, we will close down shop and go away."