The Blue Whale Game also known as “Blue Whale Challenge”, is an Internet “game” that exists in several countries. This game consists of a series of tasks assigned to players by administrators during a 50-day period, with the final challenge requiring the player to commit suicide. The term “Blue Whale” comes from the phenomenon of beached whales, which is linked to suicide.
Blue Whale began in Russia in 2013 and caused its first suicide in 2015. Philipp Budeikin, a former psychology student who was expelled from his university, claimed that he invented the game. Budeikin stated that his purpose was to “clean” the society by pushing to suicide those he deemed as having no value.
In Russia, in 2016, Blue Whale came into broader use among teenagers after a journalist brought interest to it through an article that linked many unrelated suicide victims to the Blue Whale, creating a wave of moral panic in Russia. Later, Budeikin was arrested and pled guilty to “inciting at least 16 teenage girls to commit suicide”, leading to Russian suicide prevention legislation and renewed world-wide concern over the Blue Whale phenomenon. It has also been linked to other rising self-harm trends, such as “Human Embroidery” in China.
The game is based on the relationship between the challengers and the administrators. It involves a series of duties given by the administrators that players must complete, usually one per day, some of which involve self-mutilation. Some tasks can be given in advance, while others can be passed on by the administrators on that day, the last task being suicide.
The list of tasks, to be completed in 50 days, includes waking up at 4:20 A.M., climbing a crane, carving a specific phrase on the person’s own hand or arm, doing secret tasks, poking a needle to the arm or leg, standing on a bridge and roof, listening to music, and watching videos sent to the challengers by the administrator. One of these music videos was originally for Norwegian singer Emilie Nicolas’ upbeat song “Pstereo” (filmed in Scotland). It had been dubbed by the administrator and set to BENY’s hauntingly somber remix of Australian singer Sarah Blasko’s country-folkish song “All I Want” (video filmed in Victoria, Australia).
On the 50th day, the controlling manipulators behind the game reportedly instruct the youngsters to commit suicide.
Recently, In Mumbai , a 14-year old boy committed suicide by jumping off from fifth floor of his building. When police checked his mobile phone they found some chats on WhatsApp groups by friends of the victim about the death being linked to the online suicide challenge.
The blue whale game is not more than a suicide game, so be aware of this dirty game being played online. So it is better to keep some distance from this suicide game.
