Omegle, a free online chat website that allowed users to socialise with others without any need to register, has shut down. Its founder Leif K-Brooks said operating Omegle "is no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically".
Here are five points on Omegle:
The platform was started in 2009 when the founder was 18 years old. He said Omegle was meant to be a way of strolling down a street in the "global village" (a reference to the internet). Less than a month after launch, Omegle garnered around 150,000 page views per day.
A year after its launch, in March 2010, the website introduced a videotelephony feature.
The home page of the website featured a US flag. In the earliest version of the website, Omegle criticised the Chinese Communist Party and had the words "Xi Jinping sure looks like Winnie-the-Pooh" over it.
Originally, Omegle allowed a 13-year-old to use the website with the permission of a parent or guardian. In 2022, the rules were updated so that only those 18 or older were allowed to use the website.
Shortly before it was shutdown, Omegle faced a lot of challenges, including online exploitation of children and attacks on communication services. Leif K-Brooks said his decision revolved around intense misuse.
