Omegle shut down: Video chat website closed after abuse claims
Business
The service grew in popularity with children and young people during the Covid pandemic
(Web Desk) - Popular live video chat website Omegle is shutting down after 14 years following user claims of abuse.
The service, which randomly placed users in online chats with strangers, grew in popularity with children and young people during the Covid pandemic.
But the site has been mentioned in more than 50 cases against paedophiles in the last couple of years.
Founder Leif Brooks said that operating the website was "no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically".
"There can be no honest accounting of Omegle without acknowledging that some people misused it, including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes," he said.
"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.
"Frankly, I don't want to have a heart attack in my 30s."
Omegle's closure announcement included an image of its logo on a gravestone.
