A new online gaming challenge called Blue Whale has reportedly been challenging kids to commit suicide at the final stage.
Khaleej Times reported that a WhatsApp alert has been doing the rounds which reads: “Any parents out there or anyone that knows of any kids playing an online game called ‘Blue Whale’, please get your kids off this game. It sets them 50 challenges and the last one is to commit suicide.”
According to online reports, Blue Whale initially sets challenges ranging from watching psychadellic horror movies to cutting shapes into their skin, with the final challenge being suicide.
To complete each challenge, users are urged to send photographic evidence back to the game creators as proof, or they will send threats.
It is thought the creators of the application-based game prey on vulnerable teens online before asking them to download the app and take the challenge. Once downloaded the user's phone is then hacked and the game cannot be deleted, meaning they can access all your details.
In 2015, authorities here cautioned parents, teachers and schools against a game promising contact with spirits and demons. Called the 'Charlie Charlie Challenge', the game went viral over the Internet, reaching school students in the UAE too.
The game required two pens placed on top of each other creating a grid with the four sectors labelled yes and no. The players then posed a question to the 'supernatural being' named Charlie by saying "Charlie, Charlie, come play with me".
As a result, police organised awareness lectures in schools and told students that the game was just a cinema trick and to avoid playing it with friends.
