Unless you’ve been living under a social media rock (If you are, I’m jealous), you’ve probably heard about the latest viral threat called the Momo Challenge which is said to inject malicious messaging into otherwise kid-friendly content from YouTube (and has since spread to other platforms like Facebook and Instagram). It’s scary and it’s viral, a bad combination.
What can we do in the face of a scary, unknown like this? We research! Fortunately, there’s no shortage of trustworthy resources to help us separate fact from fiction.
The bottom line is that it’s a hoax but that doesn’t mean it’s not a threat or something we shouldn’t take seriously. Snopes does a good job of explaining Momo’s likely origins and sheds light on the motivations behind a hoax like this. Read all about it over at Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/02/26/momo-challenge-suicide-game/
TechChrunch also did a good job explaining what’s happening and how a viral hoax might prey on parents and children for (twisted) fun and profit. Read more here: https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/01/momo-videos-on-youtube-cannot-be-monetized-but-thats-not-a-new-policy/
Once Momo has been forgotten, there will be another like it, and another, and another… The key take-aways from our threat analysis:
- Research so you can better understand what you are up against.
- Tune into what your kids are doing online. And just as important, tune into their physical and emotional behaviors. A YouTube video won’t make your child commit suicide but there are other warning signs to watch for (see Snopes article).
- Talk to your kids about online safety and privacy. Make sure they are comfortable talking to you about what they encounter on the internet and maintain an ongoing dialog.
Relevant information. Thank you for your insightfulness!