Isaac Steidl

Isaac Steidl is a French-born internet entrepreneur best known as the founder and manager of the French-language chat website Coco (coco.fr, later coco.gg), launched in 2003. French authorities shut the site down in June 2024 as part of a criminal investigation led in France. In January 2025, Steidl was arrested in Paris and later charged in connection with alleged offences linked to the operation of Coco, notably the rapes of Gisèle Pelicot; he was placed under judicial supervision with bail set at €100,000.^[1] The case is ongoing, and reporting attributes the allegations to prosecutors.^[1][2]

Isaac Steidl
Occupation(s)	Internet entrepreneur; website operator
Years active	2003–present
Known for	Founding and managing the chat website coco.gg
Notable work	Coco.gg

Early life

English-language reporting describes Steidl as having been born in southern France; later reporting states he acquired Italian nationality and had been living in Eastern Europe prior to his arrest.^[1][3] French outlets describe Steidl as an entrepreneur based in Var, southeastern France; some reporting adds that he later took Italian nationality, renounced his French nationality, and had been living in Eastern Europe prior to his arrest.^[4][5]

French authorities reported centralizing 23,051 case files across 71 prosecutors' offices and identifying more than 480 victims, with more than €5 million seized; the June 2024 takedown was directed by the national anti–organized crime jurisdiction (JUNALCO) with the Gendarmerie's national cyber unit and coordinated with Eurojust.^[6][7]

Coco

Steidl launched the chat website Coco in 2003. The platform, which allowed anonymous access to chat rooms, later moved from the French domain coco.fr to coco.gg, registered in Guernsey under its .gg ccTLD.^[8][9]

Over several years, French reporting and advocacy groups criticized the site’s lack of moderation; Le Monde described Coco as a plaque tournante (lit. 'turntable', figuratively: 'hub') for illegal activity and noted links to the Mazan rape case and to the homicide of Philippe Coopman, with four suspects interviewed during the June 2024 operation.^[10] On 25 June 2024, the Paris prosecutor's office ordered the platform's shutdown under the direction of JUNALCO; the operation was carried out by the Gendarmerie's national cyber unit (UNCyber) and the National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF), with support from the Interior Ministry’s cyber command, and coordinated with Eurojust.^[6]

French authorities shut down Coco on 25 June 2024 in a coordinated operation involving multiple European partners; prosecutors stated that the platform had been cited in 23,051 judicial procedures and that more than €5 million had been frozen.^[11][1]

Legal proceedings

French prosecutors stated that Steidl was placed under formal investigation (mise en examen) on eight counts: complicity in drug trafficking; possession and distribution of child sexual abuse images; corruption of minors via the Internet; aggravated pimping; criminal association (association de malfaiteurs); aggravated money laundering; and administering an online platform to facilitate illicit transactions by an organized gang. He was placed under judicial supervision with a €100,000 bail and barred from leaving France.^[12]

According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the alleged facts span 2018–2024. Investigators reported that bank accounts connected to the platform were frozen in Hungary, Lithuania, Germany and the Netherlands, and that more than €5 million was seized during the inquiry.^[12]

In July 2024, two site moderators were arrested in Oignies (Pas-de-Calais) and Limoges in connection with the investigation.^[12]

On 8–9 January 2025, Steidl was detained for questioning in Paris, and prosecutors announced charges the following day.^[3] According to contemporaneous reporting, the charges include administration of an online platform to facilitate illicit transactions by an organised gang, aggravated money laundering, complicity in drug trafficking, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, and corruption of minors. He was placed under judicial supervision, prohibited from leaving France, and ordered to post €100,000 in bail.^[2][13][14]

Controversies

French advocacy groups had long called for Coco's closure, citing homophobic ambushes and risks to minors; organizations including SOS Homophobie and Agir contre la prostitution des enfants publicly welcomed the platform’s shutdown in June 2024.^[15][16][17]

English-language reporting has described Coco as an unmoderated forum implicated in serious crimes, citing French prosecutors and victims' advocates; the shutdown followed years of criticism by child-protection and LGBTQ+ groups and coordination among European partners such as Eurojust.^[8][11]

See also

• Coco.gg
• Pelicot rape case