The ‘Momo Challenge’ made a media frenzy last month after parents across the world warned that the creepy character was been spliced into Fortnite, Peppa Pig, and YouTube Kids videos.
Momo first made headlines in 2018 when the spooky, doll-like figure with bulging eyes was said to pressure kids into committing suicide via WhatsApp.
After coming in contact with the figure — which is actually a Japanese sculpture — users reportedly received a series of instructions commanding them to carry out dangerous tasks.
Edinburgh mother Lyn Dixon shared her 8-year-old son’s frightening encounter with Momo after the character instructed him to take a knife to his neck.
“He showed me an image of the face on my phone and said that she had told him to go into the kitchen drawer and take out a knife and put it into his neck,” Dixon told the Daily Mail. “We’ve told him it’s a load of rubbish and there are bad people out there who do bad things but it’s frightening, really frightening.”
“It’s a big fear, that we can’t always control what he’s exposed to on the Internet,” she continued. “You read these stories about children committing suicide and we all know how difficult life is now with the pressures on children. Social media is a massive part of that. It’s horrific and we’ve got no control over it. There are controls on the phone, but it doesn’t go to the degree I would like it to because it’s what you can’t see that’s the worry.”