Beware of the The Blue Whale Challange

We all have lately been hearing about a “game” that has taken the lives of several teenagers across the globe. The Blue Whale Challenge is a 50 day game that provides a series of challenges- one challenge each day- with the last one being taking one’s own life in order to “win”  the game. While most of us have rubbished the game as we read the articles about it thinking how one game can make a person take his/her precious life so easily, it has successfully manipulated more than 160 teenagers to kill themselves. This indicates the strong manipulative power of the groomer who cleverly infuses the plan into the children’s minds.

                The game comes by different names in different places at different times. But the most common one is the “Blue Whale” Challenge which derives from the natural fact that blue whales voluntarily beach themselves inshore in order to end their lives, or in other word, suicide- a phenomenon that is more or less a mystery.

                It targets vulnerable teenagers and kids even as young as twelve. Apparently, “death” is the only rule and the only intention of the creator of the game is to “take as many kids as possible” with him before he eventually kills himself too. The creator we are talking about here is an expelled psychology student from Russia, Philipp Budeikin(21) who has recently been arrested. But his arrest does not put this mess to an end. Ilya Sidorov is an administrator of the game who alone had allegedly claimed the lives of around 15 teenagers. Though he was attested too, there may be several other admins who work secretly and tirelessly to make sure that a new link or two is created whenever the police or other securities close down one.

                Regarding how the game works initially, a Hindustan Times columnist and anchor of Gadget Guru Cell Guru, Rajiv Makhni, tells us that it is “not an app or a link that one downloads and play. The game is played on social media apps, online gaming groups, message boards and online community messaging areas. There are code words that one uses to reach out to the administrators of the game- like F57 or F58 and these codes keep changing. Once contact is made, the player and administrator move to a private chatroom.”

                 One might think of a plan of fooling the administrators or have them caught somehow by acting like one of those “desperate teenagers”, but it is to be noted that it is not you who chooses whether you want to be a part of the game. It is them who choose their victims. This selection is done from amongst the members of a (deadly) social networking site called Vkontante, where the link to the game initially used to be available. Once chosen, they send you links or files to download and if you fall for it, they get full control of the data on your phone or PC this leads to manipulation and blackmail so as to get you started with the game.

                Once you start the game, you are introduced to a “curator” or “whale” who is the administrator and the one that leads you to your death. He puts all his senses together and plays with you psychologically so as to get his work done. Challenges are immediately offered to you, which can be as weirdly easy as scaring a friend or drawing a whale on a paper, or as strangely difficult as waking up at 4:20 in the morning and visiting a railtrack or watching horror videos all day or cutting/scratching certain specified marks on one’s own body parts. Not forgetting, the 50^th challenge. The challenges that you complete have to be proven to the curator by uploading a picture of you doing it or the result of the task, and they also look for the authenticity. The music and videos that they send you in order to watch at certain specified timings are psychedelic in nature and related to ancient mythologies, cryptic themes and satanic symbols- enough to give an adult goosebumps. While being interviewed by some reporters, the creator of the game admitted that these videos have no meaning but are designed in such a way that desperate kids want to keep watching or listening to them to build courage.

                While certain tasks may change from time to time, here is the whole list of the 50 challenges (from Higgypop.com) that have been found to be common in two or more countries.

1.       Crave with a razor “f57” on your hand, send a photo to the curator.

2.       Wake up at 4:20 a.m. and watch psychedelic and scary videos that curator sends you.

3.       Cut your arm with a razor along your veins, but not too deep, only 3 cuts, send a photo to the curator.

4.       Draw a whale on a sheet of paper, send a photo to curator.

5.       If you are ready to “become a whale”, carve “YES” on your leg. If not, cut yourself many times punish yourself).

6.      (Task with a cipher)

7.      Carve “f40” on your hand, send a photo to curator.

8.       Type “#I_am_whale” in your Vkontante status.

9.       You have to overcome your fear.

10.   Wake up at 4:20AM and go to a roof (the higher the better).

11.   Carve a whale on your hand with a razor, send a photo to curator.

12.   Watch psychedelic and horror videos all day.

13.   Listen to music that “they”(curators) send you.

14.   Cut your lips.

15.   Poke your hand with a needle many times.

16.   Do something harmful to yourself, make yourself sick.

17.   Go to the highest roof you can find, stand on the edge for sometime.

18.   Go to a bridge, stand on the edge.

19.   Climb up a crane or atleast try to do it.

20.   (The  curator checks if you are trustworthy)

21.   Have a talk “with a whale” (with another player like you or with a curator) in Skype.

22.   Go to a roof and sit on the edge with your legs dangling.

23.   (Another task with cipher).

2.   Secret task (written in code).

25.   Have a meeting with a “whale”.

26.   The curator tells you the date of your death and you have to accept it.

27.   Wake up at 4:20am and go to rails (visit any rail that you can find).

28.   Don’t talk to anyone whole day.

29.   Make a vow that “YOU ARE A WHALE”.

30-49. Everyday you wake up at 4:20am, watch horror videos, listen to music that they send you, make one cut on your body per day, talk to a “whale”.

50. Jump off a high building. Take your life.

        If you closely analyse each task, you will find that each of them is there with a purpose- to overcome the fear of death is the ultimate one. These people regard their victims as “biological waste” and taking their lives means to them as “cleansing the society”. They know how to make it work and “how to make sick people very angry”. They make you feel comfortable with them and the strict obligations that you have towards them eventually seems voluntary.

        Let us be cautious before our own children and brothers and sisters fall prey to it. The game has affected normal teenagers from countries like Russia, UK, USA, Belgium, France and around 7 states in India. You certainly do not expect teenagers from unaffected places to always make the right decision and be wiser than the other teenagers around the world. If you witness a kid around you that is behaving unusually and is showing any trait related to the mentioned tasks, make sure you find a way to get him/her out of it, in the most positive way possible.

        To those brothers and sisters who may find the game intriguing or make themselves available as a “vulnerable teen” to them, know that it’s a game that claims that “there is no way back”. There are better things to do in life- your life that is precious to more people than you are aware of. Do not keep an idle mind. Have a purpose in life- even if they are petty and short-term ones. Each night as you go to bed, make sure you have something to do the next day, that will make you happy or get you closer to a better living and a brighter future. Remember, that our greatest enemies, and whom we must chiefly combat, are within; that God gave you this life for a purpose. Remember to appreciate life and love living.

[This article was written for a newspaper a few months back.. But I thought it is still as relevant today, as the game still persists in quite many places around the world. If you too think it is still important to know about these, please do share it. Make your friends and family know about it. Awareness is one the biggest defensive tools one can wield in this globalized world. Happy learning]