Yesterday, Faithit reported on the dangerous ‘Momo Challenge’ that is recently making a comeback since it was first identified last July.
Multiple parents have reported that their children have seen the scary image of the bug-eyed, black-haired girl spliced into YouTube Kids videos, Fortnite, and Peppa Pig.
Momo is actually a sculpture called “Mother Bird” originally created by the Japanese firm Link Factory. The company claims to have no involvement with the suicide game, but that hasn’t stopped its image from being used to scare children into thinking it’s a living, breathing entity.
Once it cuts into the screen, the Momo character asks kids to contact her and give her their phone number. They are then sent instructions to self-harm via WhatsApp or other online platforms, often along with death threats to the player or the player’s family for not complying. Several kids have cited that Momo has told them they “will be killed in their sleep” if they don’t follow through. Refusal can also “trigger [other] abusive messaging and their mobile device being hacked,” according to a parent fact sheet created by South West News Service. The last challenge is for the player to commit suicide so they can meet “Mother Bird.”
While the challenge has invaded many countries globally — including the U.S. and Canada — concern is particularly running rampant in Europe as of late. It was ignited by a viral story of an 8-year-old from Edinburgh, U.K. who was told by Momo to put a knife to his neck.
[irp posts=”76873″ name=”‘Momo’ Suicide Game Hacks YouTube Kids, Fortnite & Peppa Pig, Tells 8-Yr-Old to Stab Himself in Neck With Knife”]“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,” the boy’s mother, Lyn Dixon, told the Daily Mail on Tuesday. “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.”
The 8-year-old has remained haunted by the scarring image for months, particularly after another recent encounter… and he’s far from the only one.
Since the story started spreading like wildfire yesterday, schools, police, and parents who say their kids, too, have seen Momo are issuing warnings.
