China tightens surveillance of fast spreading ‘suicide game’
The name “Blue Whale” might sound benign but the online “suicide game” that targets teenagers and young children is triggering panic among parents and authorities in China after apparently inciting several suicides in Russia.
At least one Chinese youth has been detained, online surveillance over social media has been widened and parents are being urged to be alert about their children’s online surfing habits.
Chen Long from Zhejiang police’s cyber security team told Xinhua the spread of the game has been “unprecedented” and “in some ways like a cult”.
According to state media, the online challenge game starts with asking the participant to draw a blue whale on paper. From here, it starts getting creepy and physically harmful. Participants are asked to carve the whale “onto your body, and watching horror movies”, and the game demands players complete 50 tasks in 50 days, with the “last task to commit suicide”.
An alert mother in Zhejiang province of eastern China frantically called police when she found her teenage son obsessing over the game.
“In Zhejiang’s Ningbo City, a 12-year-old girl founded a similar group and uploaded photos of her self-harming. When asked why, she replied: ‘I am not good at school, and don’t have friends. I feel frustrated,’” state media reported.
Police found a group on the messaging app Tencent QQ was inviting youngsters to take part in the game.
“Those who would like to join in the game must get up 4.20 am tomorrow. I will send you a horror movie and you must watch it alone, or face the consequences,” were the instructions by the group’s founder, operating under the pseudonym Xiao Yang.