What Is the 'Blue Whale' Suicide Challenge? Sinister Trend Has Allegedly Been Killing Teens with a 50-Day Game of Self-Harm and Death
It starts with a chance encounter with a "whale"; fifty days later, a participant is compelled into killing himself in order to win the "game." Just what is this so-called "Blue Whale" Suicide Challenge that has been plaguing social media for months and has since been linked to more than 130 teen deaths in Russia alone?
The "whale" referred to in the initial paragraph is actually the guide or moderator that the potential participant has to communicate with before getting accepted into the game. This "whale" will then send the participant a piece of music and a list of 50 things to do in a span of 50 days and make sure that each task has been completed within the allotted time.
The participant is further instructed to provide visual evidence that they have indeed fulfilled their tasks. This would then give the "whale" enough damaging information to use as leverage for blackmail should the participant refuse to finish the game.
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A translated list of the 50 given tasks have been posted on Reddit and includes seemingly harmless orders such as drawing a whale on a piece of paper, writing #ImAWhale on one's social status, and listening to the music that the "whale" has sent. A participant may also be asked to wake up at 4:20 in the morning to watch a scary movie or go on a horror movie marathon the entire day.
The crux of the entire challenge, however, are the many numbered items that urge the participant to self-harm and literally stand on the edge of danger. The 50th instruction would then allegedly tell the participant to commit suicide.
This sinister social media group is believed to have reached out to other countries in Central Asia, the United Kingdom as well as the United States. Its influence has led such an alarming state that social media sharing platform Instagram now issues a content advisory about suicide and self-harm to anyone who searches for #bluewhale and #bluewhalegame.
Heatstreet recently reported the case of a Russian girl who jumped into a turbulent river to complete the sinister game. The 15-year-old girl was consequently saved by three young men, but she did not show any remorse for what she did.
The article also reported that a certain Philipp Budeikin, who claimed to be a creator and one of the moderators of the said game, has been apprehended and is now in jail. Budeikin said that manipulating teens into killing themselves was his way of cleansing the society from the "biological waste" of people who has no qualms about dying young. He also claimed to have threatened to kill the family members of those who refused to participate.
Budeikin is only one part of the threat, and there are other moderators who are believed to be continuing this sinister operation. Parents are advised to closely monitor their children's online activities and to teach their young ones not to fall prey to peer pressure and herd mentality.
