Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised
PORTLAND, OREGON: Leif K-Brooks, the founder of the free online chat website Omegle, has shut down the platform after 14 years after initially launching it in 2009.
The 32-year-old, who is from Portland, Oregon, is also the co-founder of the education company Brighten and Octane AI, an e-commerce operations streamlining platform, posted a statement on November 8 announcing the shutdown of Omegle.com.
Users could socialize on the website without the hassle of registering as the platform would randomly match them for anonymous one-on-one chat sessions, using the identifiers "You" and "Stranger."
Why did Leif K-Brooks decide to shut down Omegle?
Leif K-Brooks stated that he decided to shut the operations of Omegle due to the "malicious subset of users" as he updated the domain with an image of a tombstone, which read "Omegle 2009-2023."
In a lengthy statement, he explained the reasoning behind the drastic decision, writing, "One aspect of this has been a constant barrage of attacks on communication services, Omegle included, based on the behavior of a malicious subset of users."
He continued, "As much as I wish circumstances were different, the stress and expense of this fight — coupled with the existing stress and expense of operating Omegle and fighting its misuse — are simply too much."
"Operating Omegle is no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically. Frankly, I don't want to have a heart attack in my 30s. I'm so sorry I couldn't keep fighting for you," said K-Brooks.
History of Omegle
Omegle was launched in March 2009 when Leif K-Brooks was only 18. Within a month, it had 150,000 page views per day.
It soon turned into a go-to site for English-speaking people to connect with strangers. On March 10, K-Brook introduced a video-call feature to the platform.
According to the founder, "If the Internet is a manifestation of the "global village," Omegle was meant to be a way of strolling down a street in that village, striking up conversations with the people you ran into along the way."
Users had the option to decide whether the chat should be long or short and could also end the conversation if they did not want to talk to a particular person. "It was the idea of "meeting new people" distilled down to almost its platonic ideal," said K-Brooks in his statement.
Omegle turned out to be a controversial platform
Leif K-Brooks said that people have used the platform over the years for various things like exploring foreign cultures, getting life advice from impartial third parties, and as a way to alleviate loneliness and isolation.
However, controversies soon ensued surrounding illegal content, racial, religious, and gender discrimination, pornography, as well as the use of the platform by minors.
In one such instance, in 2020, two teenagers apparently referred to a TikTok user, Jovan Bradley, with the [n-word] and called him a "slave," leading to severe backlash, as per NBC News.
Moreover, a YouTuber named Tor Brookes supposedly promoted far-right extremism and conspiracy theories on the site, which included him mimicking the death of George Floyd over a video conversation.
In 2019, a $22 million lawsuit was filed against Omegle, accusing it of child sex exploitation of one user who was a minor when the incident occurred, as reported by the New York Post.
Over the years, people of different nationalities have also been arrested for broadcasting child exploitation materials and advertising searches regarding child sexual abuse.
Having said that, Omegle did implement various improvements to "weather the attacks," but ultimately K-Brooks chose to shut it down.
Internet welcomes Omegle's end
While many might have used Omegle during its 14 years of operation, netizens seemed to be relieved on learning that the controversial chat site was finally shutting down.
One said, "this website left me with nothing but traumaaaa," while another noted, "Took them long enough, should've shut it down years back."
A person reacted with a meme saying, "Society is finally improving."
"At least my children are safe now. can't say the same for 13yo me," wrote someone else.
One more simply stated, "thank the lord," as another expressed, "I feel like we all knew this was going to happen."
"Won't be missed," asserted a user.
