You’ve probably heard of at least one of the silly internet challenges sweeping social media – like the ice bucket challenge or the cinnamon challenge. The Blue Whale Challenge is similar in the sense of it being an internet challenge . . . but that is where the similarities end.
The Blue Whale Challenge is not silly, and it’s definitely not a “harmless game”. In fact, the Blue Whale Challenge is believed to be the cause of 80 to 130 teenage deaths between November 2015 and April 2016.
The cause of death: suicide.
The “game” originated on a Russian social media platform, though it migrated to a darknet website soon after. Wherever it was accessed, an administrator would give the website-goer a series of tasks. After each completion, they would administer a new one until 50 had been completed.
The final task: killing yourself.
“Once you’ve been accepted by an administrator, you are given your first of 50 daily challenges, these can be anything from simple tasks like listening to a certain song, watching unsettling videos and waking up at odd times to much more extreme requests like cutting words or whale symbols into your skin.
The first challenge usually comes at 4:20am. Every time you accomplish a task, you must provide photographic or video proof of completion to the admin.”
The first three challenges:
- Carve with a razor “f57” on your hand, send a photo to the curator.
- Wake up at 4.20 a.m. and watch psychedelic and scary videos that curator sends you.
- Cut your arm with a razor along your veins, but not too deep, only 3 cuts, send a photo to the curator.
Earlier this year, the Blue Whale Challenge was brought back to the media when a double-suicide occurred. The suicides, committed by 15-year-old Yulia Konstantinova and 16-year-old Nika Volkova, were directly linked to the Blue Whale Challenge.
Shortly before they jumped off a 14-story building, the two girls posted goodbye messages on their social media accounts with a picture of a blue whale. The terrifying thing is that this challenge is very real and it’s still thriving in the pit of the internet.