"Blue Whale" came to prominence in May 2016 through an article in Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, that linked many unrelated child suicides to membership of group "F57" on the Russian-based VKontakte social network. A wave of moral panic swept Russia.[3] However the piece was later criticised for attempting to make a causal link where none existed, and none of the suicides was found to be as a result of the group activities.[3][4][5]
Download link of Blue Whale
Reported cases
Argentina
In San Juan Province, Argentina, a 14-year-old boy was admitted to intensive care after claiming on social media he was participating in Blue Whale.[18]Bangladesh
Many news reports have published on Bangladeshi media about attempted suicide related with the game.[19][20] A teenage girl committed suicide allegedly from the addiction of the game in October, 2017.[21] A Chittagong University student was arrested by the Bangladeshi police for playing the game.[22]Brazil
Several news reports have appeared on Brazilian media linking cases of child self-harm and suicide with Blue Whale. Police have several ongoing investigations, although as yet none has been officially confirmed.[23][24][25] Altogether, eight Brazilian states had cases of suicide and self-mutilation suspected to be connected with the game.[26]Bulgaria
The first news about Blue Whale appeared in Bulgaria in mid-February 2017. The Safer Internet Centre, established under the Safer Internet plus Programme of the European Commission, responded quickly. "(T)his sensationalistic story was inflated by a number of our clickbait websites creating a wave of panic among parents", Centre Coordinator Georgi Apostolov reported."We decided not to initiate contact directly with the media since this would attract additional interest and could mislead the public into believing the story to be somehow true. As the hype was magnified by thousands sharing the story on the social networks, we just published a warning on our website and spread the link in comments under all shared in Facebook articles and posts. Then the mainstream media themselves started asking us for interviews and quoting our conclusions that it evidently was a hoax."[27]Two discussion groups about suicide opened on Facebook, but were quickly reported and deleted. The diffusion of the viral news was stopped within two weeks. Later, when a sensationalist piece in the Romanian newspaper Gandul resulted in five more articles being published in Bulgaria that reported the challenge as real, media again circulated SIC's positions, and the hoax was stopped immediately.
Chile
Media in Chile have reported three cases of children suspected of involvement with 'Blue Whale'. In Antofagasta, a mother reported to the police that her 12-year-old daughter had 15 cuts on her arm that formed the design of a whale. After being interviewed by police officers, the girl confessed that she followed game administrator's instructions while playing this game.[28] A 13-year-old girl in Padre Las Casas claimed to have played the game along with three other friends. The girl reached the tenth stage, also making cuts in her arms.[29] An 11-year-old boy in Temuco accepted an invitation to join the game on Facebook in 2017 from an unidentified woman, but declined to participate after being contacted by a profile named "Ballena Azul".[30]China
A suicide group was founded by a 10-year-old girl in Ningbo, Zhejiang; who posted several photos of her self-mutilation related to the Blue Whale.[31] Since then authorities began to monitor mentions of the game on forums and live broadcasts.[32]India
Throughout 2017 media in India has reported several cases of child suicide, self harm and attempted suicide alleged to be a result of Blue Whale,[33][34][35][36] although no case has been officially confirmed.[6] In August 2017, the Government of India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology requested that several internet companies (including Google, Facebook, and Yahoo) remove all links which direct users to the game.[7] Some commentators accused the government of creating a moral panic. Indian internet watchdog the Centre for Internet and Society has accused the coverage of effectively spreading and advertising a ‘game’ for which there is little evidence. [7] In India suicide was the second most common form of death of children, according to a 2012 report.[6]Italy
In Italy, press coverage of 'Blue Whale' first appeared on 3 June 2016, in the newspaper La Stampa, which described the challenge as "a bad joke".[37]The debunking site BUTAC reported the total lack of evidence to affirm the game's existence. On 14 May 2017, a TV report by Le Iene about 'Blue Whale' on the national channel Italia 1[38] linked the challenge to an unconnected suicide in Livorno, Italy. The report showed several suicide scenes, mostly from videos on LiveLeak depicting adults unrelated to the challenge. It incorrectly described the footage as evidence of teenagers playing the game. The report interviewed a schoolmate of the Livorno teenager, two mothers of Russian girls who supposedly took part in the game, and the founder of the Russian Center for the safety of children from internet crimes. Following the report, coverage of the challenge in the Italian media increased, with many outlets describing it as real. There was a sharp rise in Google searches for the challenge, and some panic.
On 15 and 16 May, newspapers announced the arrest of Budeikin, without saying that it happened months before. His unconfirmed statements about his supposed victims being "genetical rubbish" were reported as real. Paolo Attivissimo, a journalist and debunker of hoaxes, described the game as "a death myth dangerously exaggerated by sensationalist journalism". Police received calls from terrified parents and teachers, and there were reports of teenagers taking part in the challenge. These included several cases of self-mutilation and attempted suicide. Most reports were considered to be false or exaggerated. Alleged participants were reported from all over Italy: Ravenna,[39] Brescia[40] and Siracusa.[41]
On May 22, 2017 the Polizia Postale declared that they had received 40 alarms. On the 24th this number was increased to 70. On its website the Polizia Postale defines Blue Whale as "a practice that seems to possibly come from Russia" and offers advice to parents and teenagers.[42] Several alleged cases have since been described by newspapers.[43]
Kenya
In Nairobi County a student in Kiambu County, had played the Blue Whale challenge. He committed suicide on 3 May at the hotel owned by his grandfather in the city centre.[44]Pakistan
On September 13, 2017, Pakistan reported its first two victims from the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).[45]Poland
Three pupils of a primary school in Pyrzyce self harmed, allegedly under the influence of the 'Blue Whale' challenge.[46][47]Portugal
An 18-year-old girl was admitted to hospital with mutilations on her body in Albufeira after she threw herself from an overpass to the railway line. Police, parents and friends said that the girl had been motivated to do so by a person on the Internet named as "Blue Whale".[48] In an interview with RTP, she said that she felt alone, and lacking affection.[49]Russia
In March 2017, authorities in Russia were investigating approximately 130 separate cases of suicide related to the phenomenon. In February a 15-year-old and 16-year-old threw themselves off the top of a 14-story building in Irkutsk, Siberia after completing 50 tasks sent to them. Before they killed themselves together, they left messages on their pages on social networks.[50][51] Also in February, a 15-year-old was in critical condition after throwing herself out of an apartment and falling on snow-covered ground in the town of Krasnoyarsk, also in Siberia.[52]On 11 May 2017, Russian media reported that Philipp Budeikin "plead guilty to inciting teenagers to suicide," having described his victims as "biological waste" and claiming he was "cleansing society." He was held at Kresty Prison in St. Petersburg with charges of "inciting at least 16 teenage girls to kill themselves."[15]
On 26 May 2017, Russian Duma (parliament) passed a bill introducing criminal responsibility for creating pro-suicide groups on social media, in the wake of 130 teen deaths linked to the Blue Whale suicide challenge.[53] On 7 June 2017, President Putin signed a law imposing criminal penalties for inducing minors to suicide.[54] The law imposes a maximum punishment of six years in prison.
