After the Momo challenge that became popular in 2019, there is a new online game that encourages teenagers to participate in 50 tasks, which ends in suicide.
According to the Daily Mail, the "Blue whale challenge" is linked to a certain Jonathan Galindo who can be seen online with his face painted like a dog or Mickey Mouse.
The challenge tasks range from waking at strange hours, watching horror movies, and leads to self-harm, pushing the police to issue a warning over the challenge.
Numerous British schools, including those in Northern Ireland, Cumbria, Essex, and Cornwall, have reported about some teenagers who directly received invites to take part in the "Blue Whale Challenge."
Unlike Momo, which transpired in WhatsApp, the tasks are given online through Twitter and Instagram or text messages as well as through Discord, a new social media platform.
Game administrators allegedly threaten teenagers who refused to comply with the tasks to release their personal information.
Police warn parents about Jonathan Galindo
In a Facebook post, Northamptonshire Police advised parents to monitor their children's online activities, particularly messages or posts related to Galindo. The warning was in particular to messages received or their posts with hashtags: #f57, #f40, or #IMawhale.
Northants Police urged parents to talk to their children about the dangers of this challenge on social media "and tell them not to open any messages or challenges of this kind."
The warning was issued after an 11-year-old British schoolboy was forced to cut his wrists by an anonymous Instagram user as part of the creepy game.
Rocky Gyoury from Costa Blanca, Spain used a needle to scar his right arm after the account threatened to kill his mother if he did not obey.
'I made three cuts and sent a picture," Gyoury told MailOnline. However, Instagram user Johnotan said those were too not deep enough, so he "went deeper."
His mom found the scars on his arm later and she never thought her son "would participate in something like this."
Mrs. Gyoury also did not realize the dangers of the Internet until now. "I was tucked up next door thinking my son was alright, but he wasn't," she added.
Blue whale challenge: How it started
According to an investigation by BBC, the Blue whale challenge allegedly began in Russia when a teenager took her life on November 22, 2015.
Rina Palenkova posted a selfie as she stood outside with a black scarf wrapped around her mouth and nose. In the photo captioned with "Nya bye," she pointed her middle finger, which looked like it was covered by dried blood. She took her own life the following day.
Rina's death became a trending topic in Russian online forums. While no one ever discussed the cause of Rina's death, it has been linked to some other cases of teenage suicides in Russia who are part of the online forums that have posted about blue whales, suicide as well as Rina Palenkova's drawings.
In May 2016, speculations linking blue whales and suicide triggered a national conversation in Russia. According to Novaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper, about 130 children who might have killed themselves while participating in the Blue Whale challenge. The deaths happened from November 2015 to April 2016.
