Omegle, a popular video chat service known for randomly pairing users, is ceasing operations amidst growing concerns about the sexual exploitation of minors on the platform, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
The site’s founder, Leif K-Brooks, issued a lengthy statement on the website, lamenting the platform’s turn from a place of global connection to a scene of “unspeakably heinous crimes.”
“The telephone can be used to wish your grandmother ‘happy birthday’, but it can also be used to call in a bomb threat,” K-Brooks wrote in the statement. “There can be no honest accounting of Omegle without acknowledging that some people misused it, including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes.”
Video chat service Omegle shuts down following years of user abuse claims https://t.co/Ypsq2Pcfjc
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 9, 2023
The decision to shut down Omegle follows the settlement of a lawsuit in which the service was accused of matching an 11-year-old with a sexual predator. This case, filed in Oregon in 2021, is among numerous legal challenges highlighting Omegle’s alleged role in facilitating child pornography and abuse. The website has been cited in over 50 cases involving pedophiles in the past two years alone, according to The BBC.
Brooks, who launched Omegle at age 18 in 2009, expressed his gratitude to those who used the site positively and contributed to its success. He noted, however, that running the service is “no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically.” (RELATED: Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller’s Event Canceled After Pornographic ‘Zoom Bombing’ Incident)
Despite boasting millions of daily users and a significant presence on YouTube and TikTok, where recordings of Omegle interactions gained popularity, the website’s video chat service was deactivated as of Thursday morning, leaving only Brooks’ statement active on the site, The AP noted.