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In recent years, social media users have encountered all kinds of viral "challenges" that prompt them to engage in a suggested form of activity (and usually post pictures or videos of the results). The motivations behind social media challenges can range from fundraising for charities to simply inciting others to take part in fun and zany behaviors. The form of such challenges covers the whole gamut of benign activities (like dancing in a public setting) to the inherently dangerous (like setting oneself on fire).
Social media users – and especially parents of young social media users – have also faced extremely dangerous problems, such as encouraging children to disappear for 72 hours or even commit suicide. But many of the so-called "challenges" of this variety have turned out to be much more the product of feverish fantasies and sneaky reporting than real phenomena.
The so-called "Momo" challenge is an example of this last category of allegedly dangerous activities. According to various sources, the Momo challenge would be a form of widespread cyberbullying on platforms such as WhatsApp and YouTube, whereby children would receive anonymous threatening messages associated with images of "Momo," a sculpture unrelated to a smiling, haired figure. black and salient. eyes created by a Japanese company of special effects:
"Momo" messages would force young people to engage in perilous activities, such as taking medicine, stabbing others, and even killing themselves:
The Momo Challenge hit the headlines in mid-2018, announcing that a 12-year-old girl from Argentina had been motivated by the "Momo Game" to hang herself on a tree in her family's garden near Buenos Aires. The Argentine authorities have never confirmed that the girl's suicide was encouraged by her participation in a viral "game" rather than a real person. However:
The girl filmed her activities immediately before the suicide on her phone. Authorities suspect that someone encouraged him to commit suicide.
Police are investigating an 18-year-old teenager that the victim reportedly met on social media, Diario Popular newspaper reported. The police still have to locate the person.
The older brother of the girl found her hanging on a tree in the yard of their house with her mobile phone nearby. Her mother had left the house and came back to find that her daughter was already dead.
"The phone was hacked for video footage and WhatsApp conversations, and now the so-called teenager with whom she exchanged these messages is wanted," police said in a statement …
The death of two young men in India was also linked to the "Momo Game Challenge" in August 2018, although no definitive link has yet been documented. Around the same time, the suicides of a 12-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy in Barbosa, Colombia, could also be linked to participation in the challenge. The subject caught the attention of the major American media, which gave it an important coverage:
Other warnings that appeared in early 2019 warned that images of Momo-related threats and suicide would be inserted into videos (such as Peppa Pig) watched by children on YouTube and elsewhere:
Skepticism remains that the existence of the Momo Challenge can be much more of a hype than reality, with many critics citing the lack of screenshots and videos documenting interactions with Momo:
"The Momo stuff looks a lot more like an urban legend right now," said ReignBot, a famous YouTuber for his videos exploring scary things on the Internet. ReignBot's video on the "Momo Challenge" has been viewed more than 2 million times.
"People are asking what is and what Momo is doing, but not many people have really interacted with this account," she said. "Finding screenshots of interactions with Momo is almost impossible and you would think there would be more for something so supposedly prevalent."
Larry Magid, a technology journalist, also tweeted that the game is "probably a hoax".
Nevertheless, the fears aroused by "Momo" continue to appear in social media publications (such as the Facebook publication above), sensationalized reports from Daily mail ("A seven-year-old boy told his school friends that a doll-shaped creature would kill them in their sleep") and the Sun ("Momo 'suicide game' ', warning after school, seven, told a friend that the terrifying character would kill them in their bed"), and police warnings not based on verified information about the match .
Even the viral warning of a Westhoughton mother (in the Borough of Bolton) who had inspired the recent British press coverage mentioned above acknowledged that her son had never been contacted by "Momo But that "children at school … look at the Momo challenge. "
The stories of the Momo Challenge are sometimes also provoked or mistaken with stories of the death of Molly Russell, a 14 year old girl who died by suicide in 2017 after viewing graphic images of self harm on Instagram (unrelated with a social event). media challenge).
Some children may have been injured because of Momo (although documentation of such events remains incomplete), and even then, this phenomenon could be primarily the product of intimidation and jokers who use a practical mechanism to spur and torment vulnerable youth rather than an intrinsic part of a particular social media challenge.
However, even though it is unlikely that a healthy person has actually been incited to engage in acts prejudicial to his health or to others simply by being exposed to something that resembles the 'Momo Challenge' (About 90% of suicide victims already suffer from some form of untreated mental illness), and even though warnings about such challenges have proven to be far more viral than the challenges themselves, all that forward suggestions and images of self-injury and suicide in front of children already vulnerable to self-esteem and other psychological problems (including suicide) tendencies may have a dangerous potential .
Dr. Dawn Branley Bell, an expert in cyberpsychology, was quoted in an iNews report stressing that there are "dangerous online challenges", but that "suicide rarely has a single cause":
"In all likelihood, this type of content is affected by a minority of Internet users," says Dr. Dawn Branley Bell, cyberpsychology expert specializing in the risks associated with online activities. According to the cyberpsychologist, the Internet presents enormous challenges online, but the result is an over-typing of these trends, because stories can spread instantly around the world.
"These fads are not peculiar to the online environment," she says. "It's just that the Internet is acting as a means of communicating these behaviors to a wider and more public audience." (It's not hard to imagine that if social media existed in the 1990s, British tabloids would publish articles on "the terrifying challenge" that was eight years old and that said "Bloody Mary" three times in the bathroom mirror.)
Branley Bell also says that challenges like Momo make headlines because they are dramatic and shocking, but note that suicide rarely has a singular cause.
"People vulnerable to this type of content are likely to have other reasons behind this vulnerability," she said, "I think we would spend more time on our efforts and effort." to address the reasons for the initial psychological vulnerability – if it is low self-esteem, mental health problems or environmental problems – rather than online content. "
The news of Momo's challenge is now so widespread that the topic, whether it's a real threat or not, has generated rumors that, in themselves, can be a source of information. of concern for children:
Denise DeRosa, a cybersecurity expert, explains that the challenge, whether real or perceived, serves as a reminder to parents about what their children are doing online.
"You do not need to know all the platforms, all the apps and all the devices, but you need to know and understand your kids' favorite apps, their favorite games, their devices," she said. .
According to experts, even though Momo's real threats are not real, rumors alone can frighten children and encourage teenagers to participate in risky games.
Perhaps the best advice is to have parents generally recommend that parents tackle these issues preventively, without dwelling on specific rumors, but advising their children to be responsible and accountable. to let them know if they encounter in the digital domain something that seems scary or threatening:
"It's always best to tackle something with your child in advance," said Dr. Meghan Walls, a pediatric psychologist.
She says it would be a good idea to kindly ask your younger children if they are aware of it.
"Something like, you know, there are scary things that appear on phones and tablets and if you ever see something like that, come get me."
And for your big kids? Maybe have them promise to tell you about the Momo Challenge if it's sent to them. It is not realistic to just take out their phone, but tell them it's cyberbullying, it can be dangerous, and you trust them to let you know what's going on.
"Especially when kids are growing up and they're teenagers, they want some of that autonomy, and they deserve it as long as they can show you that they are responsible enough," Walls said.
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