On Nov. 8, Omegle was shut down due to a lawsuit. The popular video chatting platform Omegle was created in 2009 but grew in popularity during 2020.
The Omegle website was founded by Leif K-Brooks, who created Omegle in 2009. Millions of people started using Omegle during Covid-19 in 2020, creating loads of videos online on YouTube, gaining millions of views.
Omegle was an online platform that paired up two strangers on a video call. YouTubers would troll other callers and show them magic tricks and illusions, making some of those callers uncomfortable. People reported Omegle being an inappropriate website. People claimed to see other people twerking and showing naked body parts.
Omegle was also reported to be home to inappropriate context. People claimed to see other people twerking and showing naked body parts. An underaged girl, known as A.M., was paired up with an older man in his thirties in 2014. For years they talked, and he forced her to send him explicit content. This was used as evidence to send the man to prison in 2021. The young woman went to court with her attorney Carrie Goldberg and filed the case with Leif K-Brooks, owing the woman $22 million for the illegal actions. In 2018, the law was modified to prosecute online sex trafficking.
Two high school students shared their thoughts about Omegle being shut down.
“It’s a very good thing for the safety of people that it is being shut down. Down to the predators and location sharing, it’s good for everybody that it’s being shut down and should stay that way,” an anonymous Maine East freshman said.
“Well it’s good because a lot of grown men would go on that site and there’s usually kids and teens on there which was bad, and I’m happy that Omegle is gone. It’s better that it’s gone and not still a thing,” freshman Tanvi Patel said.
Leif K-Brooks is solo running Omegle. He has no employees and no moderation, causing these cases. Having some moderation on Omegle would help prevent these disgusting problems, making the site more enjoyable. If there was any moderation, then Omegle would have never been removed.
