It's difficult, of course, to say why certain images particularly resonate. Whales are solitary-seeming, sad-looking animals. They make for good memes. One of the most widely shared images was of a whale flying over a city at night. It captured the spirit of these groups - melancholy and quietly surreal. But it wasn't until May that speculation about blue whales and suicide became part of the national conversation in Russia. An article by journalist Galina Mursalieva in Novaya Gazeta, an investigative newspaper, sent the story into overdrive.
Mursalieva suggested that inside certain online groups, some of them with enigmatic names like "Ocean Whales" and "f57", existed a game. In this game, so-called "curators" would set players 50 tasks over 50 days. On the last day the user was instructed to take their own life.
The Novaya Gazeta report estimated that children might have killed themselves between November and April because of their participation in these groups. It would come to be known worldwide as the Blue Whale challenge. It did not take long for the story to cause considerable alarm. The governor for Ulyanovsk in western Russia went on television to compare the Blue Whale challenge to the Islamic State group.
Soon the panic spread outside Russia. In Georgia, US, a year-old girl killed herself. It was only later when her family had learned about the Blue Whale challenge that they realised the significance of the metre-high paintings she had finished at school shortly before she died. A few days before she died, Konstantinova had posted an image of a blue whale on her Instagram account. In November , year-old Philipp Budeikin was arrested, charged with inciting teenagers to suicide. Budeikin appeared to admit culpability.
He told Russian media outlet Saint-Petersburg. I was cleansing our society of such people. Sometimes I start to think that it's wrong, but in the end I had the feeling I was doing the right thing. He liked computers and was an aspiring producer of "witch house", an electronic music genre with occult themes. A former psychology student, the impression given by the media was that he had used highly developed tactics to manipulate teenagers into killing themselves.
He said he had created the game in under the name "f57", combining the sound of the start of his name, Philipp, and the last two digits of his phone number. On 10 May he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison. It seemed like an open-and-shut case. Further investigation, however, has revealed that little about the Blue Whale challenge was quite as straightforward as it seemed.
Evgeny Berg was on his way to work when he first read about the Vkontakte chat rooms. It was May but it was very gloomy. I thought 'Oh my God, there is a man out there who is trying to kill a lot of children in Russia. Berg, an investigative journalist at Meduza, a Russian-language independent media organisation, decided to dig deeper. With the help of the people around you, you will overcome this. A huge thank you to Cybersmile contributor Amy for such an informative post.
If you are affected by the Blue Whale Challenge or any other kind of online abuse — we can help! Visit our Cyberbullying and Online Abuse Help Center for practical help and tips or alternatively, you can use our Total Access Support section to find out about the various ways we can help you with your particular problem. To learn more about Cybersmile and the work we do, please explore the suggestions below.
What are your thoughts on The Blue Whale Challenge? Tweet us CybersmileHQ. The NSPCC say children should remember not to follow the crowd and not feel pressured into doing anything that makes them feel unsafe.
It can sometimes be hard to stand up to your friends, so Childline offers the following tips on how to say no:. Any child worried about peer pressure or online worries can contact Childline on It doesn't discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society - from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It's the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes. Yet it's rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now. The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives. Let's all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others You're Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:. If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, the Samaritans can be contacted on Jump directly to the content.
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