If you’re looking for a LiveLeak alternative, you’re most likely from the generation that loved the unabashed, contrarian nature of the website. Sure, it was an incredibly controversial platform that would sometimes host problematic videos, but there was much else that would keep regulars coming back for more.
Its no-censorship approach led to some of the rarest and rawest footage to be found on the Internet. But unfortunately, the website had to shut shop in 2021.
Typing its address in your browser now redirects you to another, much different site. Between its launch in 2006 and its closure in 2021, a lot transpired.
10 LiveLeak Alternatives: Shocking Video Sites Not For The Faint-Hearted
1 – DailyMotion
DailyMotion won’t give you much controversial content. However, it will show videos that you’ll never find on other sites like YouTube or Facebook.
It has a lenient policy on copyrighted content. Moreover, it features the official channels of various big companies; so you can find plenty of legit videos here.
For instance, DailyMotion can be your go-to site if you want to watch videos of popular American sports after the game is broadcast, Hollywood gossip videos from entertainment channels, or upload videos yourself.
It has a pretty good recommendation algorithm which guarantees you’ll find more videos similar to the ones you like.
2 – MyVidster
MyVidster isn’t a video hosting site, which means you won’t find user-generated content here. Yet it provides a similar experience to that of LiveLeak.
It does this by sourcing high quality videos from a wide variety of websites on the Internet. One can imagine the kind of mishmash of videos this site’s home page will offer.
MyVidster’s purpose is to act as a social video sharing website and bookmarking portal, which allows you to collect and share videos on the web.
Moreover, you can also explore and follow video collections that are curated by other users. This site’s slightly dated user interface will remind you of LiveLeak’s UI.
3 – Xfinity Video
One of the best LiveLeak alternatives out there is Xfinity Video owing to its lenient censorship.
This site hosts good quality videos from popular news organizations, sports channels, entertainment hubs and more.
Moreover, it neatly categorizes all the clips, making them easy to find. The site is regularly frequented by many out there who have been affected by the shut down of LiveLeak. It has a very modern and intuitive interface, which is a big plus.
4 – eBaum’s World
eBaum’s World is your one-stop shop for gaining access to viral videos, memes, entertainment news, gaming content, and much more.
The amount of varied content it has makes it hard to exit the page once you enter the site.
eBaum’s World also features individual celebrity soundboards that allow users to click buttons and hear quotes or phrases spoken by that celebrity.
It has a big library of controversial clips for your guilty viewing pleasure.
5 – Kaotic
Kaotic is a great alternative to LiveLeak for those who miss viewing content in their uncensored form, as it contains a lot of problematic and disturbing videos.
It’s not for the faint-hearted; so be warned before entering. The site hosts a range of extreme content, age-restricted content, shocking real life content, violent content, banned content, and more for you to stream anytime you want.
It organizes videos neatly under different categories. So you can filter out the kind of clips you don’t want to see on the page. One more way in which the website tries to attract fans of sites like LiveLeak is by using the tagline “A Live Leak of Reality.”
It’s certainly a tongue-in-cheek way of calling fans of the original site to this new address.
6 – VideosHub
If you’ve ever heard of Metacafe, you might know that it was a LiveLeak competitor back in the day. In fact, it was one of the earliest video-sharing websites on the internet, but was later beaten in popularity by the likes of YouTube.
While Metacafe is now officially closed, you will get redirected to the VideosHub page if you punch in the former’s URL.
VideosHub is the kind of site that you will spend hours on without even realizing it. It’s home to interesting videos from many different genres and the most interesting part is that it has no restrictions with regard to the content being uploaded.
7 – ItemFix
If you type the LiveLeak URL in the address bar now, you get redirected to ItemFix. It’s a website dedicated to letting users post and edit video and audio files.
And while LiveLeak fans will have much to explore here, they certainly won’t get the same experience.
That’s because ItemFix has a policy against posting content with excessive violence or gore.
But there is plenty of unique content on this website that you won’t find on many other video streaming platforms.
And it’s all neatly organized under distinct categories so you can continue to watch videos without interruptions.
Its user interface is also pretty attractive and the video quality is generally great.
8 – Veoh
Veoh is an excellent alternative to LiveLeak thanks to the versatility of the content that exists on the site.
You won’t find graphic content here, but it does feature plenty of clips of the kind that mainstream websites don’t like to highlight.
Once in a while, you even get lucky and find a video or two that you never even thought existed in this world. Veoh was launched back in 2005, the same year as YouTube.
While it was initially designed to broadcast TV shows, it turned into a video sharing website in 2006.
Veoh’s interface might be dated, but it does have some real gems in its catalog of uploaded videos.
9 – DTube
As you can discern from its name, DTube is quite comparable to YouTube. You will find awesome videos filed under various categories on this site, including Hot, Trending, New, and more.
DTube is one of the most prominent and reputable sites in the genre that includes sites like LiveLeak.
It also rewards its community in the form of cryptocurrency that operates on the Steem blockchain.
10 – KillSomeTime
KillSomeTime abides by its name and lets you pass some time while you’re browsing the internet. It hosts both memes and online videos.
In fact, its home page has only two major components – Featured Videos and Featured Memes. But of course, there’s much more to the site than just that.
This addition to our list presents content in a vertically scrolling feed and allows you to like, dislike, or comment on a video.
It even gives you the option to bookmark your favorite clips to come back and watch later.
What is LiveLeak and what led to its rise?
LiveLeak has its origins in that part of the Internet known as shock sites. Its creators had previously founded Ogrish.com, which was based on a similar concept to LiveLeak.
That’s perhaps why Ogrish.com was shut down on the same day that LiveLeak was launched — 31 October 2006.
The aim behind this venture was to present an alternative to people wanting to share the kind of streaming web videos that were regularly flagged by sites like YouTube.
LiveLeak allowed you to host real footage of politics, war, scary videos, and many other world events. You could say that it encouraged and fostered a culture of citizen journalism.
Why was LiveLeak shut down?
LiveLeak would regularly get into trouble due to its no-censorship approach. While this route was necessary to maintain the site’s initial promise, some videos did cross the line once in a while.
This was glaringly visible during 2007, when footage of the execution of Saddam Hussein was uploaded to the website and led to LiveLeak being mentioned by the White House in a press briefing.
Several such controversial videos, including one showing the beheading of a journalist brought negative attention to the site over the years.
And while sites like YouTube and Facebook would immediately delete such clips, LiveLeak stayed put on its policies.
After 2019’s Christchurch mosque shootings, several telecom operators and internet service providers stopped providing access to sites like LiveLeak.
The video-hosting platform slowly started rolling back several key features and even began showing suggested videos that were hosted by YouTube, Dailymotion and VK. Finally, on May 5, 2021, the LiveLeak website was closed down.
Wrapping up
LiveLeak might have been controversial, but it has left behind a big legacy. It’s up to the websites listed above to try and live up to that and be the kind of place fans of the original would regularly flock to.
And while none of these LiveLeak alternative sites offers an experience identical to the now-dead website, they each deliver at least a chunk of what made LiveLeak so visit-worthy for so many people around the world.
