GREENSBORO, N.C. — Police and schools are issuing warnings to parents on social media after a popular WhatsApp challenge has resurfaced in the United Kingdom. The "Momo game" or "Momo challenge" gained international recognition last summer and was initially considered a hoax, quickly becoming a widespread meme. In August 2018, law enforcement investigated the influence of Momo on the death of a 12-year-old in Argentina, worrying parents globally to the potentially real dangers of the challenge.
When children participate in the challenge, they contact a stranger concealing themself as "Momo" using a creepy image and communicate primarily through the Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp. Momo encourages a participant to complete various tasks if they want to avoid being "cursed." Some of the tasks include self harm, which Momo asks the participant to provide photographic evidence in order to continue the game. Ultimately, the game ends with Momo telling the participant to take their own life and record it for social media.
YouTube released this statement to WFMY News 2 and other TEGNA's Verify team about the video "Momo" image being linked to content on their platform:
“Contrary to press reports, we’ve not received any recent evidence of videos showing or promoting the Momo challenge on YouTube. Content of this kind would be in violation of our policies and removed immediately.“
YouTube also says it has not found the content on "YouTube Kids.
The original image of "Momo" is actually a sculpture called "Mother Bird" by Japanese artist Keisuke Aisawa, which was on display in 2016 at the Vanilla Gallery in Tokyo. There is no evidence that Aisawa's company Link Factory was involved in the creation or execution of the Momo challenge. Link Factory did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment.
Like most memes, the Momo challenge seemingly disappeared soon after it went viral. But this week, parents across the U.K. are finding the game on WhatsApp as well as hidden within animated videos for children across social media. "WhatsApp cares deeply about the safety of our users," a WhatsApp spokesperson told CBS News on Tuesday. "It's easy to block any phone number and we encourage users to report problematic messages to us so we can take action."
"Our advice as always, is to supervise the games your kids play and be extremely mindful of the videos they are watching on YouTube," The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) wrote on Facebook. "Ensure that the devices they have access to are restricted to age suitable content."
YouTube reiterated information about the intent and preferred use of its platform:
-- On YouTube, we permit news stories and videos that are intended to raise awareness of and educate against the challenge.
-- Content that promotes the Momo challenge that is not news, educational, documentary footage is prohibited on YouTube -- we have seen content reporting on the Momo character and people have sent us screenshots of thumbnails with the Momo character in it, but that content has been focused on discussing/documenting/reporting on the challenge and the character
-- Despite press reports of this challenge surfacing, we've not had any links flagged or shared with us on YouTube that violated our guidelines by showing or promoting the Momo challenge.
-- YouTube is not for children, which is why we built YouTube Kids, a more controlled version of YouTube built specifically for families in mind.
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