Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

End of an era: LiveLeak self-destructs after 15 years of providing unmitigated gore & all things NSFW

End of an era: LiveLeak self-destructs after 15 years of providing unmitigated gore & all things NSFW

The famously gruesome site, which has hosted the most offensive content online – and refused to budge in response to complaints about it – has finally given up the ghost. A tamer incarnation called ItemFix is replacing it.

Hayden Hewitt, co-founder of LiveLeak and now ItemFix, did not directly confirm in any of his statements that the site was being dropped because of censorship, or that it was bowing and scraping before the deadly monolith of deplatforming, or any of the other grim fates that befall sites like it. Such bullying has plagued most alternative media outlets in the past several years.

However, in one response on Twitter Hewitt mentioned that “the very pressures of doing what were a large part of the reason for moving on. It wasn't exactly a Wordpress blog on $2.99 hosting.”

In a video posted on YouTube channel Trigger Warning, he also described the new normal in no uncertain terms: “I don’t f**king like it. I liked it much better when it was the Wild West.”

"Sometimes it’s just the right time to chart a new path."


Given the site’s boilerplate insistence that their new outlet would be named ItemFix and would be about “something completely different, completely fresh, and something we feel energized about tackling,” users may have a reason to feel threatened. Then again, they have just as many reasons not to.

LiveLeak was always the site one could turn to if one was desperately searching for footage of a car crash, forklift fails, and ill-advised street-fights. ItemFix seems to follow in largely the same vein, except with a clearer delineation of “good guys” and “bad guys.” Hewitt declared LiveLeak had “achieved all that it could and it was time for us to try something new and exciting.”

There has been a long internet tradition of handing over the baton to a younger, fresher site once one’s own platform reaches meme-saturation. The co-founders of LiveLeak predecessor Ogrish recognized that, moving on to create the new site after Ogrish committed the internet equivalent of seppuku.

Responding to a suggestion the people would be leaving LiveLeak’s new incarnation, Hewitt wrote: “Of course they will. As they should if that's what they're after. ItemFix isn't a replacement.”

LiveLeak is far from being the only internet resource that has been publishing gore. A BBC article dated back to June 2007 bemoans the state of Britain where children can fight in the streets, savagely having at each other with fists, legs, and whatever sharp and heavy objects the kids might have at hand. But trying to quell internet violence by cutting off one of the heads of the many-heard hydra has never worked yet, and given the problems continuing to plague small-scale social networks like Parler and Gab, it’s not likely to end anytime soon.

Even 4chan, the once-beloved crew of meme sculptors blamed for swaying political outcomes and a even winning political election result, will not last forever. When parts of its political arm /pol/ was forced out into 8chan and then 8kun, it became clear that 4chan was not about free speech anymore – at least, not if that speech has anything to do with politics.

As with everything in the world, if you want something right, you’d best learn to do it yourself. But with 15 years of driving censors mad, today’s social media platforms might be able to learn something from LiveLeak.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
China Presses Netherlands to “properly” Resolve the Nexperia Seizure as Supply Chain Risks Grow
Merz Attacks Migrants, Sparks Uproar, and Refuses to Apologize: “Ask Your Daughters”
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
×