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Omeglehtml{margin:01em;}body{max-width:1000px;margin:auto;background:#a29eaf;font-family:-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"SegoeUI",Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,"AppleColorEmoji","SegoeUIEmoji","SegoeUISymbol";}#grestone{text-align:center;margin-top:1em;}#grestoneimg{max-width:100%;max-width:min(100%,50vh);height:auto;border:3pxsolid#0c0522;border-radius:3em;box-sizing:border-box;}.introquote{font-size:0.9em;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;padding-left:1em;padding-right:1em;max-width:75%;max-width:max(300px,75%);}#contactpoints{text-align:center;font-size:0.9em;font-style:italic;}“Ofalltyrannies,atyrannysincerelyexercisedforthegoodofitsvictimsmaybethemostoppressive.Itwouldbebettertoliveunderrobberbaronsthanunderomnipotentmoralbusybodies.Therobberbaron'scrueltymaysometimessleep,hiscupiditymayatsomepointbesatiated;butthosewhotormentusforourowngoodwilltormentuswithoutendfortheydosowiththeapprovaloftheirownconscience.”—C.S.Lewis“InthebeginningtheUniversewascreated.Thishasmadealotofpeopleveryangryandbeenwidelyregardedasabadmove.”—DouglasAdamsDearstrangers,FromthemomentIdiscoveredtheInternetatayounge,ithasbeenamicalplParlate con gli estranei!acetome.Growingupinasmalltown,relativelyisolatedfromthelargerworld,itwasarevelationhowmuchmoretherewastodiscover–howmanyinterestingpeopleandideastheworldhadtooffer.Asayoungteener,Icouldn’tjustwaltzontoacollegecampusandtellastudent:“Let’sdebatemoralphilosophy!”Icouldn’twalkuptoaprofessorandsay:“Tellmesomethinginterestingaboutmicroeconomics!”Butonline,Iwasabletomeetthosepeople,andhethoseconversaParlate con gli estranei!tions.IwasalsoanidWikipediaeditor;Icontributedtoopensourcesoftwareprojects;andIoftenhelpedanswercomputerprogrammingquestionsposedbypeoplemanyyearsolderthanme.Inshort,theInternetopenedthedoortoamuchlarger,morediverse,andmorevibrantworldthanIwouldheotherwisebeenabletoexperience;andenabledmetobeanactiveparticipantin,andcontributorto,thatworld.Allofthishelpedmetolearn,andtogrowintoamorewell-roundedperson.Moreover,asasurvivorofchildhoodrape,IwasacutelyawarethatanytimeIinteractedwithsomeoneinthephysicalworld,Iwasriskingmyphysicalbody.TheInternetgemearefugefromthatfear.IwasundernoillusionthatonlygoodpeopleusedtheInternet;butIknewthat,ifIsaid“no”tosomeoneonline,theycouldn’tphysicallyreachthroughthescreenandholdaweapontomyhead,orworse.Isawthemilesofcopperwiresandfiber-opticcablesbetweenmeandotherpeopleasakindofshield–onethatempoweredmetobelessisolatedthanmytraumaandfearwouldheotherwiseallowed.IlaunchedOmeglewhenIwas18yearsold,andstilllivingwithmyparents.ItwasmeanttobuildonthethingsIlovedabouttheInternet,whileintroducingaformofsocialspontaneitythatIfeltdidn’texistelsewhere.IftheInternetisamanifestationofthe“globalville”,Omeglewasmeanttobeawayofstrollingdownastreetinthatville,strikingupconversationswiththepeopleyouranintoalongtheway.Thepremisewasratherstraightforward:whenyouusedOmegle,itwouldrandomlyplaceyouinachatwithsomeoneelse.Thesechatscouldbeaslongorasshortasyouchose.Ifyoudidn’twanttotalktoaparticularperson,forwhateverreason,youcouldsimplyendthechatand–ifdesired–moveontoanotherchatwithsomeoneelse.Itwastheideaof“meetingnewpeople”distilleddowntoalmostitsplatonicideal.BuildingonwhatIsawastheintrinsicsafetybenefitsoftheInternet,userswereanonymoustoeachotherbydefault.Thismadechatsmoreself-contained,andmadeitlesslikelythatamaliciouspersonwouldbeabletotracksomeoneelsedownoff-siteaftertheirchatended.Ididn’treallyknowwhattoexpectwhenIlaunchedOmegle.WouldanyoneevencareaboutsomeWebsitethatan18yearoldkidmadeinhisbedroominhisparents’houseinVermont,withnomarketingbudget?Butitbecamepopularalmostinstantlyafterlaunch,andgreworganicallyfromthere,reachingmillionsofdailyusers.Ibelievethishadsomethingtodowithmeetingnewpeoplebeingabasichumanneed,andwithOmeglebeingamongthebestwaystofulfillthatneed.Asthesayinggoes:“Ifyoubuildabettermousetrap,theworldwillbeatapathtoyourdoor.”Overtheyears,peopleheusedOmegletoexploreforeigncultures;togetadviceabouttheirlivesfromimpartialthirdparties;andtohelpalleviatefeelingsoflonelinessandisolation.I’veevenheardstoriesofsoulmatesmeetingonOmegle,andgettingmarried.Thoseareonlysomeofthehighlights.Unfortunately,therearealsolowlights.Virtuallyeverytoolcanbeusedforgoodorforevil,andthatisespeciallytrueofcommunicationtools,duetotheirinnateflexibility.Thetelephonecanbeusedtowishyourgrandmother“happybirthday”,butitcanalsobeusedtocallinabombthreat.TherecanbenohonestaccountingofOmeglewithoutacknowledgingthatsomepeoplemisusedit,includingtocommitunspeakablyheinouscrimes.Ibelieveinaresponsibilitytobea“goodSamaritan”,andtoimplementreasonablemeasurestofightcrimeandothermisuse.ThatisexactlywhatOmegledid.Inadditiontothebasicsafetyfeatureofanonymity,therewasagreatdealofmoderationbehindthescenes,includingstate-of-the-artAIoperatinginconcertwithawonderfulteamofhumanmoderators.Omeglepunchedaboveitsweightincontentmoderation,andI’mproudofwhatweaccomplished.Omegle’smoderationevenhadapositiveimpactbeyondthesite.Omegleworkedwithlawenforcementencies,andtheNationalCenterforMissingandExploitedChildren,tohelpputevildoersinprisonwheretheybelong.Thereare“people”rottingbehindbarsrightnowthanksinparttoevidencethatOmegleproactivelycollectedainstthem,andtippedtheauthoritiesoffto.Allthatsaid,thefightainstcrimeisn’tonethatcanevertrulybewon.It’sanever-endingbattlethatmustbefoughtandre-foughteveryday;andevenifyoudotheverybestjobitispossibleforyoutodo,youmaymakeasizabledent,butyouwon’t“win”inanyabsolutesenseofthatword.That’sheartbreaking,butit’salsoabasiclessonofcriminology,andonethatIthinkthevastmajorityofpeopleunderstandonsomelevel.Evensuperheroes,thefictionalcharactersthatourcultureimbueswithspecialpowersasaformofwishfulfillmentinthefightainstcrime,don’tsucceedateliminatingcrimealtogether.Inrecentyears,itseemslikethewholeworldhasbecomemoreornery.Maybethathassomethingtodowiththepandemic,orwithpoliticaldisreements.Whateverthereason,peoplehebecomefastertoattack,andslowertorecognizeeachother’ssharedhumanity.Oneaspectofthishasbeenaconstantbarreofattacksoncommunicationservices,Omegleincluded,basedonthebehiorofamalicioussubsetofusers.Toanextent,itisreasonabletoquestionthepoliciesandpracticesofanyplacewherecrimehasoccurred.Ihealwayswelcomedconstructivefeedback;andindeed,Omegleimplementedanumberofimprovementsbasedonsuchfeedbackovertheyears.However,therecentattackshefeltanythingbutconstructive.Theonlywaytopleasethesepeopleistostopofferingtheservice.Sometimestheysayso,explicitlyandowedly;othertimes,itcanbeinferredfParlate con gli estranei!romtheiractofsettingstandardsthatarenothumanlyachievable.Eitherway,thenetresultisthesame.Omegleisthedirecttargetoftheseattacks,buttheirultimatevictimisyou:allofyououttherewhoheused,orwouldheused,Omegletoimproveyourlives,andthelivesofothers.WhentheysayOmegleshouldn’texist,theyarereallysayingthatyoushouldn’tbeallowedtouseit;thatyoushouldn’tbeallowedtomeetrandomnewpeopleonline.ThatideaisanathematotheidealsIcherish–specifically,tothebedrockprincipleofafreesocietythat,whenrestrictionsareimposedtopreventcrime,theburdenofthoserestrictionsmustnotbetargetedatinnocentvictimsorpotentialvictimsofcrime.Considertheideathatsocietyoughttoforcewomentodressmodestlyinordertopreventrape.Onecounter-argumentisthatrapistsdon’treallytargetwomenbasedontheirclothing;butamorepowerfulcounter-argumentisthat,irrespectiveofwhatrapistsdo,women’srightsshouldremainintact.Ifsocietyrobswomenoftheirrightstobodilyautonomyandself-expressionbasedontheactionsofrapists–evenifitdoessowiththebestintentionsintheworld–thensocietyispracticallydoingtheworkofrapistsforthem.Fearcanbeavaluabletool,guidingusawayfromdanger.However,fearcanalsobeamentalcethatkeepsusfromallofthethingsthatmakelifeworthliving.Individualsandfamiliesmustbeallowedtostriketherightbalanceforthemselves,basedontheirownuniquecircumstancesandneeds.Aworldofmandatoryfearisaworldruledbyfear–adarkplaceindeed.I’vedonemybesttoweathertheattacks,withtheinterestsofOmegle’susers–andthebroaderprinciple–inmind.Ifsomethingassimpleasmeetingrandomnewpeopleisforbidden,what’snext?ThatisfarandawayremovedfromanythingthatcouldbeconsideredareasonablecompromiseoftheprincipleIoutlined.Analogiesarealimitedtool,butaphysical-worldanalogymightbeshuttingdownCentralParkbecausecrimeoccursthere–orperhapsmoreprovocatively,destroyingtheuniversebecauseitcontainsevil.Ahealthy,freesocietycannotendurewhenwearecollectivelyafraidofeachothertothisextent.Unfortunately,whatisrightdoesn’talwaysprevail.AsmuchasIwishcircumstancesweredifferent,thestressandexpenseofthisfight–coupledwiththeexistingstressandexpenseofoperatingOmegle,andfightingitsmisuse–aresimplytoomuch.OperatingOmegleisnolongersustainable,financiallynorpsychologically.Frankly,Idon’twanttoheaheartattackinmy30s.ThebattleforOmeglehasbeenlost,butthewarainsttheInternetreson.VirtuallyeveryonlinecommunicationservicehasbeensubjecttothesamekindsofattackasOmegle;andwhilesomeofthemaremuchlargercompanieswithmuchgreaterresources,theyallhetheirbreakingpointsomewhere.Iworrythat,unlessthetideturnssoon,theInternetIfellinlovewithmayceasetoexist,andinitsplace,wewillhesomethingclosertoasouped-upversionofTV–focusedlargelyonpassiveconsumption,withmuchlessopportunityforactiveparticipationandgenuinehumanconnection.Ifthatsoundslikeabadideatoyou,pleaseconsiderdonatingtotheElectronicFrontierFoundation,anorganizationthatfightsforyourrightsonline.Fromthebottomofmyheart,thankyoutoeveryonewhousedOmegleforpositivepurposes,andtoeveryonewhocontributedtothesite’ssuccessinanyway.I’msosorryIcouldn’tkeepfightingforyou.IthankA.M.foropeningmyeyestothehumancostofOmegle.Sincerely,LeifK-BrooksFounder,Omegle.comLLCTocontactOmegle,pleasevisithereformoreinformation.