Omegle, a renowned website that allowed individuals to chat and interact with strangers from all over the world, shut down after 14 years. Leif K-Brooks, the website’s owner, stated that he made the decision due to the “stress and expense of operating Omegle, and fighting its misuse – are simply too much.”
Omegle, which was founded in 2009, was a platform that let users interact with random individuals on the internet without having to give any personal information. One of the potential reasons for the enormous success of the anonymous online chat service is that it did not need users to register to chat.
During the COVID-19 epidemic, numerous people used the online chat service because they were unable to interact with others or leave their houses.
However, due to frequent complaints from users regarding sexism, racism, abuse and paedophilia, the online chat service frequently found itself in hot water. Omegle has also witnessed a multi-fold rise in child sex abuse and nudity in recent years.
While Omegle tried to deal with the problem by providing moderated chat rooms, working with law enforcement and increasing the minimum age restriction from 13 to 18 years, the problem was that there was no age verification process and most individuals who engaged in nudity and racism faced no consequences.