Chatroulette launched the trend at the end of the 2000s: connecting complete strangers through computer video conversations. Concretely, the site randomly connects two people connected so that they can discuss via interposed webcam. Everyone has the ability to switch to another conversation with a different person at any time if they wish.
The service had exploded in popularity in 2010 thanks to this innovative concept before seeing the craze fall in the following years. Since then, other sites and services of the same type have emerged and surpassed the original.
In 2019, the enthusiasm for these sites increased once more with the health crisis and the various confinements. Alone, locked up in their homes, many people have taken advantage of Bazoocam, Chatrandom, Strangercam or even Omegle to break boredom and loneliness. It is estimated today in France that one million users connect to this last site each month.
And it is precisely Omegle which is now in the sights of the French government following the publication of an investigation by The site Kool Mag, an online parenting magazine for fathers. Indeed, the site denounces the presence of mature exhibitionists on this platform very popular with young people.
Voyeurs and exhibitionists already present for several years
The founder of Kool Mag, Baptiste des Monstiers, says he surfed the site on a Wednesday followingnoon and met dozens of children and teenagers aged 9 to 15, looking for new friends.
He also saw there, likely to come into contact with these children, “dozens of men masturbating, showing off, some disguised as women wearing women’s underwear“.
