SCP-4581

A counter-propaganda tool wreaks unintended havoc on Foundation servers.

rating: +167+x

NOTICE FROM THE FOUNDATION RECORDS AND INFORMATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

Sharing derivative media depicting this object's active state propagates a virulent audio-borne infohazard. This trait was discovered in the course of testing. Initial containment procedures have been updated with essential information rendered in blue.

— Maria Jones, Director, RAISA

Item#: 4581
Level2
Containment Class:
safe
Secondary Class:
none
Disruption Class:
keneq
Risk Class:
caution

Special Containment Procedures: In the absence of a playback device, SCP-4581 can be considered inert, and shall be stored in the temperature-controlled archival vault in the secure wing of Site-76. Any testing of SCP-4581-A is to be conducted in a soundproofed room equipped with audiovisual surveillance. Any proposed testing involving SCP-4581 must be approved by the Site-76 RAISA Coordinator. Sanctioned tests must only be documented via contemporaneous transcript; audio recording devices of any kind are strictly barred from the testing environment.

antiracistaudio.jpg

SCP-4581 in storage.

Description: SCP-4581 is a single-sided cassette tape similar to the Dead Kennedys' 1981 album In God We Trust, Inc. The cassette has an extraordinary resistance to physical tampering, and refuses any attempt to overwrite either side of the tape.

The visual design deviates from standard releases in several conspicuous ways. Where Side One should bear the release company's name, it instead says "mxm bootleg edition", and their logo is replaced with a crossed-out swastika. This design is identical to the cover art for the 7" vinyl release of "Nazi Punks Fuck Off", a version of which appears as Track 6 on In God We Trust, Inc.1 Side Two has been altered from its original message ("Home taping is killing record industry profits! We left this side blank so you can help.") and now reads, "copyright can poison fascist propaganda! I left this side blank so you can BLANK".

Normal playback does not activate any anomalous effects. The album proceeds as expected with a runtime of 13 minutes and 54 seconds; as advertised, Side Two is blank.

When placed in a compatible device, any attempt to overwrite Side One will trigger SCP-4581's active state. The cassette will begin playing popular music targeted for stringent copyright enforcement on YouTube2 at a volume of 60 to 130 decibels (dB) from no discernible source; this effect is designated SCP-4581-A. Track selection is biased towards music considered disrespectful or "situationally inappropriate" by observers. Despite the physical limitations of the magnetic tape, SCP-4581-A will continue playback indefinitely unless interrupted, thus posing a risk of hearing damage3 to observers without ear protection. For detailed testing information, consult Addendum 4581-1.

When recordings of SCP-4581-A are uploaded to any network-capable device, an audio-borne infohazard (SCP-4581-∞) will propagate across all media the current user can possibly access. SCP-4581-∞ overwrites all audio channels with a loop of a single, random track, and spreads when given access to new files. This includes when a different user uploads files affected by SCP-4581-∞ to a new network, or when the current user logs into another network.

Attempting to overwrite Side Two triggers an opposing effect: a nullification field that silences all communications and scrubs all audio recordings within a range of 300 meters, reducing them to high-frequency noise consistent with analogue magnetic "tape hiss". This effect, designated SCP-4581-B, will also persist indefinitely until interrupted, and is essential for containing SCP-4581-∞. It is reasonable to conclude that these combined effects were engineered with the intent of making any recorded material unusable for commercial, journalistic or documentary purposes. See Addendum 4581-2 for expanded testing information.

SCP-4581-B is preceded by an eight-second burst of high-frequency sound, which displays a Keter-class memetic hazard when rendered as an audio spectrogram. Following this discovery, key words pertaining to SCP-4581 were added to Foundation webcrawler I/O-GASNIER4, and "mxm" was flagged as a potential Person of Interest.

Discovery: SCP-4581 was recovered from the epicenter of a spontaneous communications blackout in ███████, Washington on 2017/04/20, after a street confrontation between left-wing and right-wing demonstrators. Local law enforcement reported an interval of "deafening music" before abruptly losing contact with their dispatcher inside SCP-4581-B's range of effect. Dispatched to the scene, MTF Iota-10 ("Damn Feds") discovered that all audio recorded at the event had been expunged. They identified SCP-4581 in a torn and discarded backpack, along with a portable cassette player and a tape case stenciled with the following directions:

WEAR EARPLUGS!
press record to activate
side 1: copyright killer
side 2: get-away jam
TRACK 6 FOREVER

Following the project team's initial report, RAISA detected unauthorized changes on the Site-76 staging server. Timestamps indicate that the alterations began twenty-three minutes after Researcher Penelope Gore uploaded the first recording of SCP-4581-A, resulting in all media associated with her account being dubbed over with Rage Against the Machine's 1992 song "Killing in the Name".

Audited server logs demonstrated no sign of external penetration, suggesting that this event was a tertiary effect of SCP-4581. RAISA designated this infohazard SCP-4581-∞, all testing was halted pending a full project review, and SCP-4581's Disruption Class was upgraded to Keneq.

At this time, the only method of removing SCP-4581-∞ from an affected individual is direct exposure to SCP-4581-B. This will halt infohazard propagation from all derivative users, but will not restore the original audio in affected files.

Research indicates that PoI-6880 ("polaricecraps") was referring to ██████ ███, a right-wing provocateur with ties to non-anomalous hate groups. ███ is implicated in a series of high-profile street conflicts, which have resulted in one fatality and ██ publicly-reported injuries. While ███ was present in the recovery area at the time of MTF Iota-10's investigation, he demonstrated that his camera had been wiped. ███ was amnesticized and released when he demanded exorbitant monetary compensation for alleged damages; ███ regularly updates his media channels and is clearly not under the influence of SCP-4581-∞.

Researchers have been unable to correlate "steakshift's" alleged deployment of SCP-4581-∞, implying that affected user(s) may remain uncontained. "steakshift", AKA "mxm", was summarily deemed PoI-6966.


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