Is Chatroulette cleaning up its act?
Chatroulette has been temporarily taken offline, but it is expected return in the next couple of hours.
Visitors to the website over the last few days have been greeted with the message “The experiment #1 is over now. Thanks for participating. Renewed and updated version of the website will be launched tomorrow”. “Tomorrow” then gave way to “today”, which has in turn recently been replaced by “shortly”.
The controversial webcam-powered chat service connects users with random strangers from around the world and is designed and operated by Russian teenager Andrey Ternovskiy.
The site, infamous for the insalubrious nature of its users and general genital exposure, conceded problems policing inappropriate content.
It is speculated that the relaunch of the service is part of an image overhaul as it attempts to clean up its act.