Charities have warned that scare stories of the Momo challenge are putting people at risk more than the alleged internet craze itself.
Both the NSPCC and Samaritans have said that tales of people killing themselves or committing violent acts as a result of messages received as part of the viral ‘game’ are unfounded.
They say that there is no evidence that any harm has been caused by the Momo challenge itself, but that reaction amongst adults to it and media hysteria could now be putting vulnerable people at risk and encouraging them to think of self-harm or suicide.
A Samaritans spokesperson said: “These stories being highly publicised and starting a panic means vulnerable people get to know about it and that creates a risk.
“Currently we’re not aware of any verified evidence in this country or beyond linking Momo to suicide.
“What’s more important is parents and people who work with children concentrate on broad online safety guidelines.”
A number of news outlets have published stories on unsubstantiated links between the challenge and child suicides in Russia.
And there have also been baseless suggestions that hackers have infiltrated children’s programmes on the likes of YouTube to insert Momo content.
YouTube also say there is no evidence of videos promoting the Momo challenge on their platform.
A YouTube spokesperson told The Guardian: “Contrary to press reports, we have not received any 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.”
The Momo challenge has existed in various forms for some time, but its recent rise to prominence is thought to have been started from a post made on a Facebook group for residents of a town in Lancashire.
It warned of children receiving messages on WhatsApp from users with a profile picture of a woman with bulging eyes, urging them to comply with various demands.
From then on, the story snowballed and led to many police forces and schools across the UK issuing internet safety warnings.
In Parliament today, the phenomenon was raised by Tory MP Douglas Ross (Moray), who asked for a debate on online safety after being contacted by worried constituents.
He said: “Can we have a debate and allow the government to explain what more we can do to protect and educate young people about the scourge of these online dangers?”
Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom said the “appalling” challenge was “one the Government is extremely concerned about” and new laws were being drawn up to force internet companies to act to protect vulnerable users, including children.
She said: “We’ve been very clear that more needs to be done to protect young people online, including from cyber-bullying and suicide and self-harm content, and internet companies do have a responsibility to their users.
“The forthcoming online harms white paper will set out a range of legislative and non-legislative measures to keep UK users safe online.
“In the case of Momo, organisations including the Samaritans, the NSPCC and the Safer Internet Centre have said there is no confirmed evidence the Momo phenomenon is posing a threat to British children.”
Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
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