Omegle, a popular website used to video chat with strangers, is shutting down after almost 15 years. The closure comes amid increasing criticism that the site endangered its users, with reports of child sexual abuse and other crime on the platform. Omegle allowed users to sign up and then be launched into a video chat with another stranger using the site. The two could chat for as long as they wished – until they ended that conversation and embarked on a new one. The app was launched in 2009, and became popular almost straight away. Its founder said that its popularity was a result of “meeting new people being a basic human need”. Quickly, however, it became known for explicit and other criminal content. Leif K-Brooks, the company’s founder, admitted that Omegle had been misused, “including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes”. The site attempted to introduce new features to stop that misuse, such as “monitored chats” that would allow moderators to try and stop criminals using the site. But they did not work, and the site continued to receive criticism for its lack of safety. Now Mr K-Brooks has said that the criticism has become too much, and Omegle will shut down. The intensity of the fight over use of the site had forced him to decide to shut it down, he said, and it will stop working straight away. “As much as I wish circumstances were different, the stress and expense of this fight – coupled with the existing stress and expense of operating Omegle, and fighting its misuse – are simply too much. Operating Omegle is no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically. Frankly, I don’t want to have a heart attack in my 30s,” wrote Leif K-Brooks, who has run the website since founding it. Omegle saw a huge surge in popularity during the pandemic, as people not only flocked to the site but recorded their interactions and shared them on social media. But that popularity also brought more awareness of the problems on the site, and increased criticism of it. Mr K-Brooks acknowledged that criticism. But he also suggested that at least some of it was in bad faith, and that it was intended to force the site to shut down. “In recent years, it seems like the whole world has become more ornery. Maybe that has something to do with the pandemic, or with political disagreements. Whatever the reason, people have become faster to attack, and slower to recognize each other’s shared humanity. One aspect of this has been a constant barrage of attacks on communication services, Omegle included, based on the behavior of a malicious subset of users,” he wrote. He said that the site had been shut down on the basis of “fear”. “If something as simple as meeting random new people is forbidden, what’s next?”, he wrote, comparing the end of Omegle to “shutting down Central Park because crime occurs there – or perhaps more provocatively, destroying the universe because it contains evil”. The decision to shut down Omegle comes amid increasing concern about regulation of the internet and how best to protect its users. It comes just days after the introduction of the UK’s Online Safety Act, for instance, which aims to hold platforms to account for crimes on their platform, including online grooming. Read More Omegle anonymous chat app shuts down after 14 years Setback for Ireland as EU legal adviser recommends revisit of Apple tax case New AI Pin clips ChatGPT to your clothes Setback for Ireland as EU legal adviser recommends revisit of Apple tax case New AI Pin clips ChatGPT to your clothes Google issues three-week warning to Gmail account holders

From the random to the obscure, there is always new trend that's taking over TikTok and this particular one involves chickens. This "chicken war" craze sees owners jokingly flex the fighting abilities of their prized birds. And don't worry, there's no actual blood sport involved – just fighting talk from the humans. It all started when TikToker Dylan Bezjack (@dylan_bezjack) filmed himself walking with a flock of chickens closely following behind him, to which he quipped that he and the chickens were on their way to “kick some a**.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter @dylan_bezjack #i #aint #no #chicken The video went viral with 1.4 million views, and clearly caught the attention of other chicken owners who decided to show Dylan what he and his flock would be up against – inadvertently kicking off the "Chicken Wars 2023" trend. Here are some of the best video responses: @fechinfresheggs Peggy and the girls will win this war! ??? #chickenwar #chickenwars #chickenwar2023 #fyp #foryou #chickensoftiktok #chickengang #chickens @Yourmomspoolboy @jolly_good_ginger @theanxioushomesteader @Hill billy of Alberta @TstarRRMC @hiddencreekfarmnj @TwoGuysandSomeLand @only_hens @Chicken brother @Jake Hoffman @Barstool Sports @theanxioushomesteader You’ve got no chance. Our DM’s are open for challenges. #chickenwars #chickenwars2023 #chickens #comeatme #homestead #war @brian_adams313 My flock is spoiled AF ? They wouldn’t cooperate ? please go to the creators tagged and show their original some love #chickenwar2023 #chickentok #chickensoftiktok #chickens People have been loving the chicken content as a result of Dylan's original video and shared this in the comments section of his video. One person wrote: "Dude started a whole new chicken war!!!! I love all the duets! I’m here for it!" "You’ve set off the Great Chicken Wars of 2023 and my FYP and I LOVE it!" another person said. Someone else added: "All the stitches to this are my new Tik Tok obsession!" "You sir, started a terrific trend! thank you!" a fourth person commented. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Someone could soon be at risk of dying or being injured by a falling satellite every other year, according to a new report. By 2035, if SpaceX’s Starlink space internet satellites continue to grow in number, then they some 28,000 pieces of them will be falling from the sky each year, according to a report from the Federal Aviation Authority. The chance of one surviving its fall to the ground and injuring or killing someone would be 0.6 per year, it said – which would make it likely to happen once every two years. They could even pose a risk to aircraft, it said. The probability of an aircraft being downed by a satellite would be 0.0007 per year by 2035, the report claimed. The report was commissioned amid increasing concern about falling space debris, and the vast collection of material that has been put into space in recent years. Companies such as SpaceX are launching more and more satellites each years, and experts have warned that there is a danger of collisions both in space as well as on the ground. The new report aimed to evaluate the risk posed by that falling space debris. It also suggests that some of the danger could be limited with more regulation. But it notes that the FAA does not have any power over launches that happen outside of the US. As with many of the problems in space, the world currently lacks an international approach to space debris, new satellites and the dangers that those objects might pose. The report primarily looked at the constellation of satellites that have been launched and are planned by SpaceX, for instance. The company has launched 5,000 such satellites already, and plans to increase that dramatically, and SpaceX represents over 85 per cent of the risk posed to people on the ground, the FAA’s report said. But it did not look at other networks of satellites planned in other countries. Recent reports have suggested that China is planning its own huge constellation of satellites that will also offer their own space internet, named Guowang, for example. SpaceX has said that the analysis used to calculate the number is “deeply flawed” and based on false assumptions about the danger posed by its satellites. The company’s satellites are more likely to burn up on entry than the report assumed, the company’s principal engineer David Goldstein wrote in a letter to the FAA, according to a report from Space News. Read More PlayStation announces brand new version of the PS5 ChatGPT founder says bitcoin is ‘super logical’ next step for tech Google to trial AI in UK traffic light systems to reduce stop-and-go emissions

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