“This is merely a current, attention-grabbing example of the minefield that is online communication for kids,” wrote the Police Service of Northern Ireland, in a Facebook post. The image of momo is actually a photo of a sculpture by Japanese special-effects company Link Factory. According to pop-culture website Know Your Meme, external, it first gained attention in 2016.
Is the Momo Challenge a hoax?
Unfortunately, pranksters, cyber bullies and copycats pick up on viral trends like this one, using them to frame their own set of challenges. A similar phenomenon can be seen on Instagram, where users co-opt the virality of hashtags like #momochallenge in an attempt to boost their content, even if the post does not feature Momo. Viral posts about Momo, at times featuring less reliable evidence, took off just days later. On Tuesday, a Twitter user named BreeDaAuraGod_ shared a viral Facebook post about the dangers of Momo. Google queries rose in tandem with another viral scare hoax called “Blue Whale,” which began in Russia on the social network VKontakte and was falsely tied to reports of teen suicides.
The character, according to some rumors, was splicing itself into YouTube videos dedicated to Fortnite or the animated children’s series Peppa Pig, and even some videos that were pre-approved venezuelans selling petro on localbitcoins at half the official price by the popular YouTube Kids app, to blast harmful messages. That said, experts on mental health have cautioned that such hysterical news coverage could potentially prove harmful, possibly even inspiring imitators. Take, for instance, the case of the two 12-year-old girls from Wisconsin who attempted to stab their best friend to death, later claiming that they did so to appease the fictional internet boogeyman Slender Man. While there is no evidence that Slender Man exists, the case “is instructive, because Slender Man doesn’t have to exist in order for people to act on it,” cautions Radford.
What Is the Momo Challenge?
After contact was made, an anonymous person allegedly ordered the child to commit dangerous acts and sends them violent images if they refuse. what if i want to buy bitcoin The only content that we found are the warning posts being shared by frightened parents, and news stories about it. Still, swaths of parents are claiming that they, or their kids, have seen Momo appear.
Indeed, inappropriate content often does make it past automated platform security and monitors — just look at YouTube’s persistent struggle with combating child exploitation, online bullying, or extremist conspiracies. The signature image for Momo — the possessed-looking chicken lady — predates pretty much every report of the supposed challenge and appears to have nothing to do with the viral sensation. It is a statue called “Mother Bird,” made by artist Keisuke Aisawa who works with the Japanese special effects company Link Factory. Images of the statue from a gallery display first began circulating as early as 2016. And the underlying challenge, with its messages supposedly encouraging kids to commit violence and self-harm, would be far more harrowing — if there were any discernible evidence proving this is actually a problem. Warnings about a terrifying cyberbullying threat called the “Momo challenge” have spread like wildfire on the internet over the last week.
SAFETY NET: How to keep your child safe online
Some claim to show Momo in the middle but simply promote rap songs, vlogs or other content not aimed at children. According to a Google Trends analysis, searches for Momo spiked in Bolivia and Argentina to an all-time high the week of July 15. The top posts queried Google for “Momo historia,” or the meme’s background, “Momo WhatsApp,” and “Momo numero,” as users were searching for “Momo’s” potential phone number. The purportedly dangerous meme, however, is a variation of a widespread viral hoax that spread through the Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp in South America last July, then moved across India and several countries in Europe before reigniting this week. The most chilling one of those – and that which police recently warned people about – is people using that image as their own profile picture and the name Momo adding people on WhatsApp.
- That does not, however, mean that the child interacted with Momo online in the manner described in these online warnings.
- As the social media warnings multiplied, it didn’t take long for the viral story to catch on with news media in the United States.
- Other warnings claim that contact is initiated by the participant when they search for the special phone number online and then send a text or WhatsApp message.
- “If you think about it, adults have a hard time getting teens to clean up their rooms, much less get kids to perform a series of increasingly bizarre tasks for 50 days consecutively,” says Radford.
- In this election cycle, it’s more important than ever to provide context beyond the headlines.
- “This is merely a current, attention-grabbing example of the minefield that is online communication for kids,” wrote the Police Service of Northern Ireland, in a Facebook post.
But none of these circumstantial reports linking the game to the suicides have been proven. Last year, news reports started cropping up in Latin America warning of a “WhatsApp terror game,” starting with a suspected suicide of a 12-year-old girl in Argentina. But then other reports of a supposed suicide pact emerged out of Colombia, hinting at a broader viral risk — though that also remains unconfirmed. Again, months later, authorities in Mexico reported that children were being targeted and threatened by “El Momo” on Facebook.
Schools began issuing stern warnings to parents; police said some videos encouraged young children to “take a knife to their own throat.” Within a matter of days, it evolved into a wholesale craze in the US. Most likely, the media coverage of Momo has made the character and the so-called challenge even more popular, at least for the time being. Soon enough, the Momo challenge will probably fade away only to be replaced by whatever dangerous game is next in line. The lack of hard evidence linking the Momo challenge to specific actions or videos has led many to assert that it’s a viral hoax or internet legend. The Momo character is actually a sculpture that was produced by a Japanese special effects company called what caused bitcoin to rise Link Factory.
