https://www.fsf.org/news/update-to-the-fsf-and-gnus-plan-to-move-irc-channels-to-libera.chat [www fsf org]

#FSF and #GNU #IRC channels to leave #Freenode. It was supposed to be an orderly transition with officially sponsored channels to be replaced with unofficial '##channelname' channels, but Freenode seized those channels suddenly.

Later on, they changed server software without transferring the user & channel databases, so every user and project choosing to remain there had to re-create from scratch.