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Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

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Re: Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

#11

Post by DoreenMichele »

I have mixed feelings about this. It's just one article. I don't have a lot of context.

I can see how their model -- letting people scroll through images until they saw one they liked -- contributed to the issue. I also feel like there are larger societal issues that foster such problems and going after the tech is probably a relatively weak solution that tends to make people comfortable with leaving other issues unresolved.

I think it's like a scapegoat. It's easier to go after and it makes people feel like they did something when they did little, if anything, most likely.

Re: Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

#12

Post by Always_Anon »

If you used Omegle for more than 30 seconds, you'd know it was filled with sexual predators exposing themselves to children. I'm surprised it lasted this long. I'm sympathetic to the creator, I don't think tools should be banned because there are bad users, but Omegle's user base has its reputation for a reason.

Re: Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

#13

Post by mattigames »

Pretty sure Facebook, Twitter and TikTok have all already been involved in more than one first meeting between rape and homicide victims and the wrongdoers, why haven't they been closed? The lighthearted guess is that is because they fight against such evils taking a lot of preventive measures, the cynic in me and what I believe more likely is that they are seen as "too big too fail", like some bizarre form of small governments.

Re: Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

#14

Post by Teever »

hfjjbf wrote: post #4
Teever wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There’s a flaw in K-Brooks’ argument: The telephone doesn’t connect children and teens directly to sexual predators with the click of a button. Omegle’s model allowed sexual predators to sign on and click through a roulette of people, continuously jumping from one to another until they were face-to-face with who they were looking for. I used to answer the phone as a child and talk to complete strangers.

Yes, but did they pull their dicks out or ask you to undress? Telephone just isn’t a valid metaphor here.

The piece I quoted placed emphasis on sexual predators being able to communicate over the medium, not public displays of nudity, so I think the comparison to the telephone is relevant.

But that's besides the point. If you don't want your kids to see peoples dicks on the internet than exhibit better control over your kids access to the internet.

It's not up to me and the rest of society to police your kids.

I don't want to lose an internet that has charming sites like Omegle because people can't be bothered to take care of their kids.

Re: Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

#15

Post by kylebenzle »

Always_Anon wrote: post #12

If you used Omegle for more than 30 seconds, you'd know it was filled with sexual predators exposing themselves to children. I'm surprised it lasted this long. I'm sympathetic to the creator, I don't think tools should be banned because there are bad users, but Omegle's user base has its reputation for a reason.

Children actually were not allowed to use the site.

By that logic you could say the same thing about every single porn site.

Re: Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

#16

Post by eberg »

hfjjbf wrote: post #4
Teever wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There’s a flaw in K-Brooks’ argument: The telephone doesn’t connect children and teens directly to sexual predators with the click of a button. Omegle’s model allowed sexual predators to sign on and click through a roulette of people, continuously jumping from one to another until they were face-to-face with who they were looking for. I used to answer the phone as a child and talk to complete strangers.

Yes, but did they pull their dicks out or ask you to undress? Telephone just isn’t a valid metaphor here.

Yes, in fact, the telephone has been used to ask people to undress.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_search_phone_call_scam

Re: Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

#17

Post by alephnerd »

mattigames wrote: post #13

Pretty sure Facebook, Twitter and TikTok have all already been involved in more than one first meeting between rape and homicide victims and the wrongdoers, why haven't they been closed? The lighthearted guess is that is because they fight against such evils taking a lot of preventive measures, the cynic in me and what I believe more likely is that they are seen as "too big too fail", like some bizarre form of small…

> why haven't they been closed

Because they try to mitigate CSAM with moderation.

Moderation is not censorship despite what some HN big brains might think

Re: Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

#18

Post by maplant »

Always_Anon wrote: post #12

If you used Omegle for more than 30 seconds, you'd know it was filled with sexual predators exposing themselves to children. I'm surprised it lasted this long. I'm sympathetic to the creator, I don't think tools should be banned because there are bad users, but Omegle's user base has its reputation for a reason.

yeah, I see a lot of people crying out here about the diminished freedom of speech, but did any of ya'll actually use this? It lasted for maybe a month after its launch as the way it was intended. After that - it was used 90% by perverts

Re: Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

#19

Post by webkike »

kylebenzle wrote: post #15
Always_Anon wrote: post #12

If you used Omegle for more than 30 seconds, you'd know it was filled with sexual predators exposing themselves to children. I'm surprised it lasted this long. I'm sympathetic to the creator, I don't think tools should be banned because there are bad users, but Omegle's user base has its reputation for a reason.

Children actually were not allowed to use the site. By that logic you could say the same thing about every single porn site.

No, you cant, because porn sites don't let you see the webcam of the person watching your video.

Re: Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit from a Sexual Abuse Survivor

#20

Post by garciasn »

kylebenzle wrote: post #15
Always_Anon wrote: post #12

If you used Omegle for more than 30 seconds, you'd know it was filled with sexual predators exposing themselves to children. I'm surprised it lasted this long. I'm sympathetic to the creator, I don't think tools should be banned because there are bad users, but Omegle's user base has its reputation for a reason.

Children actually were not allowed to use the site. By that logic you could say the same thing about every single porn site.

I’m sorry, but as far as I know, for the longest time there wasn’t even a blatant warning about being under 18.

According to the BBC, it was only after “Alice” filed the lawsuit that they added a checkbox saying you had to be 18+.

S: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64618791

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