Omegle shuts down after 14 years

Omegle – the free web-based online chat service – which got some revival during the pandemic is now officially dead, after 14 years of its launch. The internet has mixed feelings about its shutdown.

The online chatting website was created by an 18-year-old, his idea was to pair two random users together for video or text chatting. The young website owner was not able to grasp the scope of the website so it got bad really fast.

Internet users called this website a “magnet for pedophiles” and it’s been a part of multiple legal proceedings as there are many underage people’s experiences on the site.

rip omegle, thoughts and prayers to all the 35 year old men i talked to when i was 14

— matt (@mattxiv) November 9, 2023

A post – that started with the quote of C.S. Lewis and Douglas Adams – was uploaded by Omegle founder Leif K-Brooks in which he told his personal story about survival, his interests in “debating moral philosophy,” computer programming, and developing Omegle before announcing the site has shut down.

K-Brooks on his website post, wrote, “The battle for Omegle has been lost, but the war against the Internet rages on,” following a manifesto about the difficulties of content moderation.

He said, “Virtually every online communication service has been subject to the same kinds of attack as Omegle; and while some of them are much larger companies with much greater resources, they all have their breaking point somewhere.”

In conclusion, the Omegle founder thanked the people who used the website for the positive purposes and contributed to the site’s success in any way.