Inspired by the 2002 movie “The Ring,” the new Momo Challenge has emerged through YouTube. But this time, it’s targeting children specifically. In the “The Ring”, there is a demonic presence known as Samara who comes through the television screen and torments the living. In the challenge, Momo, who is inspired by Samara, is said to possess young people through the screens on which they are watching YouTube.
But who is Momo? She is a bug-eyed, stringy haired woman that shows up in the middle of YoutubeKid videos. Momo made her first appearence the end of 2018, but she has recently flared up in the digital world. There are many versions of her story: she pops up on the screen and takes control of the children, giving them morbid instructions on how to commit suicide; she appears in the middle of children’s videos and encourages self-harm, but not necessarily suicide.
However, there are extensive reports which debunked Momo. So, Momo is a hoax and everyone should move on. According to CNN, the challenge is hard to describe. Since there isn’t a lot of proof whether or not the Momo Challenge is real, there is no need for concern. Momo is just an urban legend that was inspired from a Japanese artist who “made” Momo, when in reality, he just made a creepy art project. As there are many claims of the phenomenon, the actual number of complaints is very slim. No law enforcement agencies have confirmed that Momo has directly harmed physically, either.
According to theatlantic.com, the Momo Challenge is a recurring hoax that has been twisted by local news stations and parents. Momo occurred about a year ago in WhatsApp, a free downloadable texting and facetiming app. Teens on the platform stretched the story about Momo and it went viral on the internet. There have been numerous reports from Youtube stating that there is no actual threat with Momo and that all videos stating so will be taken down.
Web security experts have also commented on the apparent Momo. The experts say that the challenge was a case of moral panic which was fueled by unverified media reports. Youtube has also not received any reports of the supposed harmful challenge. They are, however, allowing videos that are raising awareness about the supposed challenge, just to be cautious.
The challenge has been all over the world. In the United States, Momo is apparently showing up in Minecraft and Fortnite. Again, though, there are no actual reports of Momo appearing in these games. So, as Momo is a hoax, it is still advised to just take some precaution as something else could be lurking the games we love.