Omegle Shuts Down After Years of Controversy and Abuse Allegations

Reading time: 2 min — Spotted on BBC

After fourteen years of service, popular live video chat site Omegle has just announced its closure, reports the BBC. At issue: several allegations of abuse from users.

Created in 2009, the social network randomly connected Internet users via video. The goal: to make friends with strangers online. The platform had particularly gained popularity among adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The operation of the website was no longer viable”

In an official press release illustrated with a photo of a tombstone, Leif K-Brooks, the founder, states: “Operating the website was no longer viable, neither financially nor psychologically.”

This decision comes as various social networks are subject to increased surveillance by regulatory authorities. This week, Ofcom, the telecommunications regulator in the United Kingdom, pointed out these platforms which promote online harassment.

Omegle has already been the subject of controversy, notably in 2011 when an American minor filed a complaint against the site for having “random contact with a pedophile”. The trial did not take place until ten years later, in November 2021.

“Some people may have misused Omegle”

If at the time, Omegle’s lawyers argued in court that “the website is not to blame for what happened and is not a den of predators,” the speech was completely different on November 2, 2023: “We recognize that some people may have misused Omegle, including to commit crimes of unspeakable atrocity,” admitted by Leif K-Brooks.

Since its creation, Omegle has been mentioned in more than fifty child abuse cases around the world. TikTok banned the distribution of links to Omegle, after a 2021 survey revealed that children were exposing themselves to strangers at the site.

According to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the number of images of young children engaging in sexual acts on video has exploded in recent years. In 2022, it recorded more than 63,000 web pages showing this type of images, compared to 5,000 before the pandemic.