What is Omegle?

Omelge (Oh-me-gull) is a website that randomly pairs you with another person on the internet to anonymously video chat.

The other person could be any age and anywhere around the world, providing they are using Omegle, you could be paired with them with no certainty what you may see as the video chat appears.

Why the sudden popularity?

Omegle is not a new website, in fact it was created back in 2009 but since the pandemic the website has once again become increasingly popular. This has snowballed since also becoming very popular on other mainstream social media platforms. Viral videos of the website where strangers video chat have only added to concerns.

Videos of Omegle have had more than 10.9 billion views on TikTok alone. TikTok made a statement that it has banned any direct website links to the Omegle website and continues to monitor content put onto the social media platform.

Is it safe for young people?

Omegle has a reputation for being very unpredictable. While the terms of service state users must be 18 or over, the website has no age verification in place and there is a direct link to pornographic content on the homepage of Omegle.

There is an increasing concern for the safety of young people using the site. “We have found self-generated abuse material elsewhere on the internet which has been created by predators who have captured and distributed footage from Omegle,” said Chris Hughes, Hotline Director for The Internet Watch Foundation.

A BBC investigation in 2021 found within a 2-hour window of using the website, they were exposed to 12 maturbating men, 8 naked men, and 7 porn adverts. Police forces, schools, and cyber authorities around the world have issued warnings around this website but users have almost doubled in the last few years: from 34 million to an estimated 65 million visits every month.

The BBC lead investigation also found that inappropriate use of the website often took place while parents were at home. Tanessa is 19 years-old and told the BBC: “We’ve seen some suicide attempts. It gets pretty bad on here it is definitely not a site that should be up”.

What can I do?

• For all children encourage them not to use the site. If you are concerned that they might, it is important to have conversations in advance about what content they may come across.
• Let them know that it is OK to come to you if they feel uncomfortable or upset about anything they come across on the site.
• Remind them you are there to support them and not to judge.
• Ask them to consider their behaviour on the website.
• Remind them that whoever they are speaking to could be recording them.
• Discuss your concern about the site with other parents.
• For younger children you can block the website by following the steps below.

Internet Safety – Blocking a website

There are several options available to you as a parent to block certain websites and have online safeguarding in place. Here are two simple examples to get you started:

If your child is using Google Chrome, you can use an app called ‘Google Family Link’. This allows you to manually block websites and have more control about what your child is accessing online.

Step-by-step | Google Chrome

1. Open up the Google Family Link App
2. Select your child and then tap ‘manage settings’
3. Next, click ‘google chrome’.
4. Choose the setting that is right for you and your family. You can:
   – allow all sites except for ones you have blocked
   – Try to block explicit sites (this automatically tries to filter out sexually explicit or violent websites but there is no guarantee)
   – Only allow approved websites (your child can only access websites that you approve)
5. Click ‘manage sites’ to allow or block websites.

Step-by-step | Apple Screen Time

This will work on all apple devices that are ios12 compatible (a more recently updated ios version)

1. Open your child’s ios device
2. Open settings
3. Find ‘screen time’ and select it.
4. Then scroll to ‘content and privacy restrictions’
5. Tap ‘content restrictions’
6. Find ‘web content’ and click onto this option. You can then limit adult websites or only allow websites you manually enter.