Deadly Social Media ‘Craze’ Takes Aim at Teens
Rina Palenkova was 17 in November 2015 when she posted a goodbye selfie moments before committing suicide.
The photo of the Russian teen went viral internationally, bringing attention for the first time to a cruel and deadly “game” called the “Blue Whale Challenge” that is now blamed for the suicide deaths of hundreds of teen girls and boys all over the world – with a shocking number in the U.S.
Last week, months after Philipp Budeikin, 22, the creator of the “Blue Whale Challenge,” was convicted by a Siberian court in connection with persuading up to 17 teen girls to take their own lives, he was sentenced to three years in prison. He explained that his motive was cleansing society of what he described as “biodegradable waste,” not emotionally troubled human beings.
Budeikin’s Blue Whale Challenge has been described as a “shadowy online phenomenon,” a hideous mind manipulation that assigns participants 50 bizarre, violent and, eventually, lethal tasks. It is named after blue whales’ tendency to beach themselves on purpose before death.
The tasks include tweeting that you are a blue whale using a hashtag. Another instructs participants to cut an arm three times. The last suggests victims take their own life. Players complete the tasks over the course of 50 days. Some reports say participants give a Blue Whale Challenge administrator updates on their progress. Failure to do so, results in administrators threatening them. (Read more from “Deadly Social Media ‘Craze’ Takes Aim at Teens” HERE)
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