Omegle, a popular video chat service, has been shut down.

After a 15-year run, Omegle, the once widely-used platform for anonymous online chatting, has announced its closure. The decision comes amid mounting concerns over the platform being leveraged for "unspeakably heinous crimes."

Launched in 2009 by Leif K-Brooks, an 18-year-old programmer and high school student, Omegle was a self-funded project that instantly struck a chord with users, drawing in millions despite its lack of promotional backing. Last month alone, the platform attracted approximately 50 million visitors, reports analytics firm SimilarWeb.

In a reflective blog post, K-Brooks shared his initial uncertainty about Omegle's potential impact and attributed its instant popularity to the innate human desire for social connection. He believed Omegle offered one of the best ways to fulfill that need.

However, Omegle's growth came with its share of challenges. The service faced criticism as it became associated with dubious activities, especially during the pandemic when its usage spiked. K-Brooks recounted efforts to curb such misuse, but recent challenges proved overwhelming.

A telling tweet from Michael Salter, a criminologist, underscored Omegle's troubling state, revealing 600,000 reported incidents of child sexual abuse on the platform in 2022 alone. Salter's remarks highlighted the platform's perils and the broader implications of ineffective US regulation.

K-Brooks candidly expressed the unsustainable burden of managing Omegle, both financially and emotionally, stating that continuing to run the service risked his health and well-being.

As he bids farewell to Omegle, K-Brooks laments the transformation of the internet over the past decade. He warns of a grim future where the rich tapestry of online interaction could be supplanted by a more passive, consumption-driven medium, diminishing the essence of true human connection that once thrived in the digital space.