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Content Warning: Portions of this entry make mention of suicide, which some may find difficult or upsetting. If you need support or are dealing with suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's website or call 1-800-273-8255.

About

Blue Whale Challenge, also known as the Blue Whale Trend or Blue Whale Suicide Game, is an internet urban legend about an online game and challenge in which participants are purportedly assigned a curator who orders various acts of self-harm to be committed over the course of 50 days. On the final day, participants are urged to win the game by committing suicide. While over 100 teen suicides have reportedly been linked to the game, no direct evidence has been found.

Origin

In 2013, an early version of the game is rumored to have been launched on the Russian social network VK.^[11] On May 17th, 2016, the Russian news site RT^[7] reported that groups on VK were linked to "130 teen suicides in Russia" (shown below).

Spread

On November 16th, 2016, the Russian news site RBTH^[8] reported that a VK group administrator had been detained by police for urging children to commit suicide. On February 20th, 2017, YouTuber Sasho Panchuk uploaded a video titled "The guy plays Blue Whale jump from roof," in which a Russian teenager pretends to jump off a roof. The video has since been removed.

On February 21st, the news site RadioFreeEurope^[9] published an article, reporting that the "Blue Whale" suicide game had become a "shadowy online phenomenon" across Russia and Central Asian countries. On February 27th, The Sun reported that police were investigating the deaths of Russian teenagers Yulia Konstantinova and Veronika Volkova (shown below, right), who were suspected of committing suicide after communicating with a "sinister social media group." That day, Snopes^[10] published an article, labeling the claim that the "Blue Whale" game was "responsible for more than 130 in Russia" as "unproven."

Yulia Konstantinova who committed suicide after playing The Blue Whale Game

On March 1st, YouTuber Mike Oh Hello released a video about the Blue Whale game (shown below). On March 3rd, The Sun^[4] reported that the Blue Whale "suicide game" was linked to 130 teen deaths in Russia. On March 6th, The Sun^[2] published a follow-up article about the challenge, On March 6th, Redditor -WATAFAK- submitted a post asking "What are the exact 50 challenges in the 'blue whale challenge'?" to /r/morbidquestions,^[1] to which Redditor jeanclauder replied with a translated list from a game.

That day, Redditor Normalguy112 submitted a post asking "What is the blue whale game?" to /r/OutOfTheLoop,^[5] where it gathered upwards of 1,600 points (89% upvoted) and 300 comments within 24 hours. In the comments section, many Redditors expressed skepticism, speculating that the game may be a viral hoax. The following day, the Australian news site News.com.au^[6] published an article reporting that the Russian police investigation of the suicide game.

Philipp Budeikin's Arrest

In May 2017, Russian authorities arrested 21-year-old Philipp Budeikin, who claimed to have invented the game to "cleanse society" of "biological waste." Budeikin subsequently plead guilty to urging 16 teenage girls to commit suicide. On May 11th, YouTuber MundaneMatt uploaded a video in which he discussed Budeikin and the Blue Whale game (shown below).

On July 19th, Budeikin was sentenced to prison for three years and four months by a Russian court in Tobolsk, Siberia. During his trial, Budeikin claimed he suffered from bipolar disorder which led him to persuade teenage girls to commit suicide, but was found to be sane by the court.

Ilya Sidorov's Arrest

On June 8th, 2017, police arrested 26-year-old Moscow resident Ilya Sidorov under suspicion of being a Blue Whale game administrator. According to Russian authorities, Sidorov confessed to participating in the suicide game on social media and faced charged related to the death of a 13-year-old girl.

Suspected Cases in the United States

On May 19th, 2017, the Miami Police Department uploaded a video about the challenge to their official Facebook page, which gathered upwards of 488,000 views and 11,500 shares within two months. In the comments section, many expressed skepticism about the unconfirmed reports (shown below).

On July 8th, 15-year-old Isaiah Gonzales was found dead hanging from his closet at his home in San Antonio, Texas. His cellphone was phone propper up near his body, where it had been broadcasting his suicide on social media. On July 10th, the San Antonio news station KSAT published an article about Gonzalez' death, noting that his family suspected he was participating in a Blue Whale game after finding photos he sent to friends in which he is shown completing various self-harm tasks. On July 10th, the CBS North Carolina news network WNCN aired an interview with a family who claimed their unnamed teenage daughter committed suicide due to the Blue Whale game (shown below).

2020 Resurgence

On July 3rd, 2020, YouTuber •Giñ_ Oáchoō• uploaded a video titled "So, what is the blue whale challenge?", which claimed that the suicide game had made a return to social media (shown below, left). On July 6th, YouTuber Loafee uploaded a video titled "The dangerous online suicide challenge" (shown below, right).

Pink Whale Challenge

Pink Whale Challenge is a social media game encouraging people to spread love and positivity as a reaction to the Blue Whale Challenge, a purported suicide game that began trending online in 2016. The Pink Whale Challenge mimics the format of the Blue Whale Challenge but instead encourages participants to perform various acts of kindness to themselves and others. The social game was started in Brazil in 2017 as a response to the popularity of the negative version.

Momo Challenge

Momo is a nickname given to a sculpture of a young woman with long black hair, large bulging eyes, a wide smile and bird legs. Pictures of the sculpture are associated with an urban legend involving a WhatsApp phone number that messages disturbing photographs to those that attempt to contact it, linked to a game referred to as the Momo Challenge or Momo Game. Similar to the Blue Whale Challenge, many have accused the suicide game of being a hoax.