Coco.gg

Coco
Type of site
Online chat
Available inFrench
Dissolved25 June 2024[1]
Created byIsaac Steidl
URLcoco.gg (Inactive)
CommercialYes
Launched2003
Current statusClosed

Coco (most recently accessible on the web as coco.gg, originally coco.fr), was a French-language online chat website without registration and free to access (freemium), created by Isaac Steidl, and known for being regularly associated with criminal cases. It was closed in June 2024. The site was variously referred to as Coco Chat or Cocoland.

Usage

The website was named after its logo, a stylized coconut.[2] It was facilitated by the advent of Web 2.0. Previously, group discussions (known as rooms) were only possible via Internet Relay Chat, which was challenging for the general public.

Like many online chat platforms, the site facilitated connections between its users around public or private chat rooms and allowed everyone to exchange private messages. It was often likened to a dating site.[3]

Perhaps because it permitted its users to remain anonymous, the site was particularly popular with gay people.[4]

History

Since its creation in 2003[5] by French-born Isaac Steidl, the site belonged to several companies based in France or Hong Kong, all owned by Steidl.[6] Until 2022, the site was hosted in France and was accessible at the address coco.fr. Some time after the arrest of Dominique Pelicot in the Mazan rapes case (late 2020), Coco moved its domain registration from France to the Bailiwick of Guernsey,[7] adopting a .gg domain name which was first registered on 31 December 2020.[8]

In 2023, while still using a Guernsey domain name, the site belonged to Bulgarian company Vinci SA and was recording 500,000 visits per month.[9][10] Steidl himself settled in Eastern Europe and became an Italian citizen, forsaking his French citizenship.[11]

On June 25, 2024, the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office announced the closure of the site and the judicial seizure of its servers. At the time of the closure France Info reported that it was hosted in Belgium and the closure was facilitated through Eurojust multijurisdictional cooperation.[12] Other sources stated that site was hosted in Germany.[13]

Subsequent to the closure several apparent successor sites have been seen, such as coco-chat.fr and blairoudeurs.fr, but are nothing but cybersquatting scams.

In January 2025, Steidl was put in custody by French law enforcement.[11] He was charged with aggravated procuring, aggravated money laundering and criminal conspiracy, as well as complicity in drug trafficking, child pornography and corruption of minors. Several bank accounts connected to the website were frozen in Hungary, Germany, Lituania and the Netherlands, and 5 million euros were confiscated.[2]

Controversies and cases

Easily accessible, simple to use, and without content moderation,[5] coco.fr (and latterly coco.gg) was frequently associated with pedocriminal cases, homophobic incidents, or those related to drug trafficking.[3][10][6][14] Its lack of moderation and a message history that did not exceed a few hours made it a "hunting ground for predators" according to the organization 'Agir contre la prostitution des enfants'.[15] In October 2023, the organization SOS Homophobie called on French public authorities to shut down the site.[16] According to French prosecutors, Coco has been cited since its creation in more than 23,000 reports of criminal activity and more than 480 victims have been involved in judicial proceedings involving the site.[7]

In France, several violent homophobic attacks or those linked to drug trafficking have been connected to the use of coco.gg to identify and trap victims, notably in Dijon,[17] Mâcon,[18] Grande-Synthe,[19] Marseille,[20] and in March 2024, in Solliès-Pont.[21]

Between January 2021 and May 2024, nearly 23,000 judicial procedures were opened in connection with this platform.[22] Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on 6 May 2024 he had referred the matter to the Public Prosecutor of the Republic.[23] The site was shut down in June 2024.[24]

Homophobic murder of Michel Sollossi

In 2018, Michel Sollossi was stabbed to death by Mohamed E., a man he had met on coco.fr, whom he had invited to his home. Although premeditation was not considered in the sentencing of the perpetrator, the homophobic nature of the attack was deemed an aggravating circumstance by the court.[25][26]

Mazan rapes

Main article: Rapes of Gisèle Pelicot

In the Mazan rapes case, spanning from 2011 to 2020, 50 men were convicted of raping or sexually assaulting the same woman, Gisèle Pelicot, who was being sedated by her husband, Dominique Pelicot. Most of the abuses occurred at the Pelicots' home in Mazan, southern France. Pelicot would use Coco to contact men whom he would invite to rape his wife. The 51st defendant was found guilty of sedating and raping not Pelicot's wife but his own, with Pelicot participating to the abuses. Pelicot had contacted him on Coco and instructed him on how to proceed.[27][28][7][29]

Richard Dewitte Case

In September 2023, Richard Dewitte, singer of the 1970s French band Il était une fois, was sentenced to 3 years in prison for corruption of a minor under 15 years old.[30] He was found guilty of making sexual propositions to a 13-year-old girl via the coco.fr site.[31]

References

  1. ^ "Le site internet controversé Coco.gg fermé par la justice, annonce le parquet de Paris". Ouest France. 2024-06-25.
  2. ^ a b "Mis en examen, le fondateur de Coco.fr garde le silence". Le Point (in French). 2025-01-09. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  3. ^ a b Mertens, Darell (2022-02-08). "Coco Chat (Cocoland): Why Should We Be Careful on This Site?". Journal du Web. Retrieved 2023-12-21..
  4. ^ Wintrebert, Hugo (2021-12-22). "Chat Coco: Investigation on a Site Often in the Crime Section". Têtu (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  5. ^ a b Fourneau, Lina (2023-06-23). "Coco.fr, A Dark Forum Between Sexual Deviances and Drug Trafficking". 20 minutes (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  6. ^ a b Laurent, Samuel (2023-06-20). "Coco, a Chat Site Known for Being a Hub of Illegal Activities". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  7. ^ a b c Robins-Early, Nick (12 October 2024). "The anonymous, anything-goes forum at the heart of the Pelicot rape case". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-10-13. Open access icon
  8. ^ "COCO.GG WHOIS".
  9. ^ Poul, Maxime (2023-10-24). "What is Coco, This Online Chat Associated with Homophobic Traps?". Le Parisien. Retrieved 2023-12-21..
  10. ^ a b Chevalier, Justine (2023-10-29). "Coco: Pedocriminality, Homophobic Traps... How Criminals Thrive on This Free Site". BFMTV (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  11. ^ a b Belliard, Matthieu (2025-01-08). "Qui est Isaac Steidl, le fondateur de Coco.fr, site de rencontre controversé fermé au public?". RMC (in French). Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  12. ^ "The Paris Prosecutor's Office Announces the Closure of the Controversial Dating Site Coco". francetvinfo.fr. 25 June 2024.
  13. ^ "French police shut down Coco chat website linked to cybercrime, child sexual abuse and rapes". Immuniweb. 27 June 2024.
  14. ^ Ruchou, Mathilde (2023-10-04). "Pedophilia, Revenge Porn, Drugs... Coco, the Forum Where Illegal Content Thrives in Freedom". La Provence (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  15. ^ Martinage, Xavier (2024-04-22). "Coco: What Should We Know About This Notorious Site?". Capital. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  16. ^ Derdevet, Manon (2023-11-03). "Faced with the Multiplication of Homophobic Traps, SOS Homophobia Calls for the Closure of the Coco Site". France Inter (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  17. ^ Da Silva, Nicolas (2023-11-10). "Series of Assaults in Dijon: The Coco.fr Chat Site Again Implicated". France 3 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  18. ^ Scheffer, Nicolas (2023-09-26). "Mâcon: A Man Brutally Attacked in a Homophobic Trap via Coco". Têtu (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  19. ^ "A White March Organized in Grande-Synthe After the Fatal Assault of a 22-Year-Old Man". Le Monde (in French). 2024-04-19. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  20. ^ Bertrand, Solenne; Foricher, Alicia (2023-10-06). ""They Wanted to Kill Me": A Young Man Victim of a Homophobic Ambush in Marseille, Trapped on the Internet". BFMTV (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  21. ^ "Drugs and Violence: The Coco.gg Site Behind a Home-Jacking in Solliès-Pont". Var-Matin (in French). 2024-07-21. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  22. ^ "Homophobic Assaults and Traps on the Coco Site: Two Individuals Close to the Administrator Arrested". Le Figaro (in French). 2024-08-01. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  23. ^ Vanlaton, Martin (2024-05-07). "Pedophilia, Prostitution, Traps... Towards the Closure of the Coco Dating Site? Gérald Darmanin Refers the Matter to the Courts". France 3.
  24. ^ "The Coco.gg Site, a Hub of Illegal Activities, Closed by Decision of the Paris Prosecutor's Office". Le Monde (in French). 2024-06-25. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  25. ^ Micheletti, Ella (2021-09-07). "Possessed by "Demons," Mohamed E. Judged for the Murder of a 55-Year-Old Homosexual". Marianne (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  26. ^ Naizot, Frédéric (2021-09-10). "Val-d'Oise: The Accused Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for the Homophobic Murder of Michel". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  27. ^ de Foucher, Lorraine (2023-06-20). ""It's His Wife, He Can Do Whatever He Wants with Her": How Dominique P. Offered His Wife, Whom He Drugged, to the Rape of At Least 51 Men". Le Monde. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  28. ^ Gillett, Francesca (2024-12-19). ""Gisèle Pelicot's ex-husband jailed for 20 years in mass rape trial"". BBC. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
  29. ^ "Who are the men convicted over rape and assault of Gisèle Pelicot?". The Guardian. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 2025-03-28.
  30. ^ Paolini, Esther (2023-09-17). "Richard Dewitte, Fallen Star of the Band Il était une fois, in Court for Corruption of Minors". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  31. ^ "Richard Dewitte, Music Star, Convicted for Corruption of a Minor". 20 minutes (in French). 2023-09-19. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
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