LiveLeak, the Internet's Font of Gore and Violence, Has Shut Down

Video site LiveLeak, best known for hosting gruesome footage that mainstream rivals wouldn't touch, has shut down after fifteen years in operation. In its place is 'ItemFix,' a site that bans users from uploading media containing 'excessive violence or gory content.' The Verge reports: In a blog post, LiveLeak founder Hayden Hewitt did not give an explicit reason for the site's closure, saying only that: 'The world has changed a lot over these last few years, the Internet alongside it, and we as people.' In a video posted on his YouTube channel Trigger Warning, Hewitt offered no further details, but said that maintaining LiveLeak had become a struggle, and that he and his team 'just didn't have it in us to carry on fighting.' 'Everything's different now, everything moves on,' says Hewitt, before adding in an aside to the camera: 'I don't fucking like it. I liked it much better when it was the Wild West.'

LiveLeak has been a mainstay of internet culture for many years, its name synonymous with footage of murder, terrorism, and everyday incidents of crime and violence. A sinister doppelganger to sites like YouTube, LiveLeak was founded in 2006 and grew out of a culture of early internet 'shock sites' like Ogrish, Rotten.com, and BestGore: websites that hosted violent and pornographic content with the express aim of disgusting visitors.

[D]emand for such extreme content will always exist, even if individual sites like LiveLeak come and go. In his farewell blog post, the site's founder Hayden Hewitt emphasized the importance of the site's community. 'To the members, the uploaders, the casual visitors, the trolls and the occasionally demented people who have been with us. You have been our constant companions and although we probably didn't get to communicate too often you're appreciated more than you realize,' he writes. 'On a personal level you have fascinated and amused me with your content. Lastly, to those no longer with us. I still remember you.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.