Momo Challenge hoax

Internet scare Discussions among YouTube commentators about a new internet phenomenon promoting self-harm similar to the Blue Whale Challenge surfaced in July 2018, followed in August by news items reporting allegations that cases of self-harm by children in South America and India had been prompted by WhatsApp messages. Worldwide moral panic In February 2019, the Police Service of Northern Ireland posted a public warning on Facebook, and American media personality Kim Kardashian posted on her Instagram Story pleading for YouTube to remove alleged "Momo" videos. At that point, people reported seeing Momo pop up on a variety of platforms, including YouTube and YouTube Kids videos about Peppa Pig and Fortnite. The hoax had reached the status of a worldwide moral panic. More advisories were issued from police forces, schools and organizations dedicated to internet consumer safety, although some of the warnings were more concerned with identity theft by cybercriminals than the possibility of self-harm. By March, several experts including the Children's Commissioner for England were asking the media and authorities to cease amplifying what increasingly looked like a case of moral panic. Authorities had not confirmed any physical harm resulting from the phenomenon, or even that any sustained exchange of messages took place between the Momo character and anybody. Responding to tabloid coverage which asserted the challenge to be true, the NSPCC, the Samaritans, and the UK Safer Internet Centre declared the Momo Challenge a hoax. A parent who alerted the press to the Momo Challenge subsequently said her child had not received messages from "Momo", but was merely told about it in a school playground conversation. ==Analysis==

Web security experts and folklorists studying urban legends have stated that the phenomenon is likely a case of moral panic: a sensationalized hoax fuelled by unverified media reports. Benjamin Radford stated that "the Blue Whale Game and the Momo Challenge have all the hallmarks of a classic moral panic", "fuelled by parents' fears in wanting to know what their kids are up to. There's an inherent fear in what young people are doing with technology." The founder of fact-checking site Snopes, David Mikkelson, doubts anybody actually came to any harm and said the whole thing "may primarily be a product of bullies and pranksters latching onto a handy mechanism to goad and torment vulnerable youngsters rather than an intrinsic part of a particular social media challenge." In response to the reports in early 2019, YouTube has said that it has "not received any links to videos showing or promoting the Momo challenge on YouTube" but permits news stories and videos intended to raise awareness of and educate against the alleged phenomenon. The website has demonetized all videos mentioning Momo, including those of news organizations, saying such content violates its advertiser-friendly content guidelines. It has also placed advisory warnings on some Momo videos alerting viewers of "inappropriate or offensive" content. ==Picture==

Early news reports stating the image of Momo was of a sculpture by Japanese artist Midori Hayashi turned out to be incorrect. Hayashi indicated that it was not her piece, and Internet users identified Link Factory, a Japanese special effects company, as the correct author of the sculpture. The woman-like sculpture has pale, distorted skin, with long, unkempt hair. Its lidless eyes protrude outwards, creating a haunting effect, much similar to a potoo, while its mouth is unnaturally wide, with a bare-toothed grin adding to its eerie demeanor. Pictures of the sculpture were first posted online in 2016, when it was publicly exhibited. The firm denies any involvement with the hoax. Japanese artist Keisuke Aiso, the original creator of the sculpture, confirmed in March 2019 that the sculpture had been thrown away in 2018, after its materials (natural rubber and plant oils) had decomposed. ==In popular culture==

On March 9, 2019, Saturday Night Live parodied the meme with a video featuring Kate McKinnon as a terrifying chicken-suited fast food mascot named "Bok Bok," whom the narrator says "does bear a slight resemblance to the internet urban legend Momo." The narrator says, "We promise, Bok Bok is not Momo in a chicken suit," despite also being "a human-bird hybrid that loves the company of children." At the end, the narrator admits, "Yeah, that's probably Momo." The plot of the 2022 teen horror movie Grimcutty is a direct reference to the Momo Challenge. In July 2019, Orion Pictures said it was developing a film adaptation, with producers Roy Lee (with his production company Vertigo Entertainment) and Taka Ichise. ==See also==