Omegle, an online chat platform that advertised itself as a safe space for people to “talk to strangers,” has closed down due to claims that it was a hub for illegal activity.
Leif K-Brooks, the founder of Omegle, said in a lengthy statement on Thursday that the service is closing because it is “no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically” to battle platform misuse. Omegle has been hit with a barrage of lawsuits in recent years, claiming that the text and video chat platform turned into a haven for sexual harassment and enabled the sex trade of minors by matching young users with perpetrators.
“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,” Brooks said in a statement.
On Thursday, the website closed its anonymous chat feature.
Founded in 2009, Omegle quickly gained notoriety and became a cornerstone of online culture in 2010, coexisting with other comparable anonymous chat services like Chat Roulette. According to Similar Web data, the platform has amassed tens of millions of monthly visitors since its introduction. But because of its popularity, the network attracted dishonest people, whose actions presented significant difficulties for the organization in terms of content management.
“There can be no honest accounting of Omegle without acknowledging that some people misused it, including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes,” Brooks stated in his statement.
Legal Liabilitie
Many lawsuits were filed against Omegle as a result of widespread misuse of the platform. In one case, attorneys claimed the chat service had matched an 11-year-old girl with a sexual predator, according to a court document. Gizmodo claimed that Omegle last week settled the $22 million civil complaint.
“By failing to take action to prevent predators from carrying out these crimes against helpless children on Omegle and failing to cure its negligent design and manufacture, these predatory users felt empowered and incentivized to continue their abusive and malicious use of the product,” the complaint claimed.