Why was Omegle forced to shut down? The reason behind the video chat app closing
Omegle, a website and app that linked strangers using video chats, has closed down after a lawsuit alleged that it was being used by sexual predators.
Omegle, a website and app that connected random strangers has shut down after it faced a lawsuit charging it with facilitating the sexual abuse of children.
The site was launched 14 years ago to provide a platform for random and spontaneous conversations between people from around the world. It linked users randomly and allowed strangers to interact with each other through text and video without the need for registration. The emphasis on anonymity was supposed to encourage more open and candid conversations among the site’s users, as evidenced by their slogan, “Talk to strangers!”
According to a statement released by founder Leif K-Brooks, the site “was meant to build on the things I loved about the Internet, while introducing a form of social spontaneity that I felt didn’t exist elsewhere.”
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Omegle’s upside and downside
The site’s founder says that Omegle has been used for for positive experiences such as exploring foreign cultures, getting advice from impartial third parties, and soothing feelings of loneliness. But he also admitted that it has its downside.
“Virtually every tool can be used for good or for evil, and that is especially true of communication tools, due to their innate flexibility,” wrote K-Brooks.
Omegle had received criticism over the years for being a platform used by sexual predators, and according to the BBC, it has been cited in more than 50 recent cases against pedophiles.
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Omegle shuts down after settling lawsuit
The website shut down a week after the company settled a lawsuit that alleged that it had connected an 11-year-old user with a pedophile.
K-Brooks said that he could no longer take the stress of running Omegle and battling the site’s misuse.
“Operating Omegle is no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically. Frankly, I don’t want to have a heart attack in my 30s,” said K-Brooks, who launched the website when he was only 18.