The MOMO Challenge, Never Fear The Unknown

"The MOMO Challenge"

The "Momo Challenge" was a hoax and an Internet urban legend about a nonexistent social media challenge that was spread on Facebook and other media outlets. It was reported that children and adolescents were being enticed by a user named Momo to perform a series of dangerous tasks including violent attacks, self-harm and suicide. Despite claims that the phenomenon had reached worldwide proportions in July 2018, the number of actual complaints was relatively small and no law enforcement agency has confirmed that anyone was harmed as a direct result of it. Concern and distress registered by children was primarily driven by media reports rather than as a result of "Momo", leading children's charities to view warnings against the alleged phenomenon as causing more harm than good by leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy which may encourage children to look up violent material on the Internet.

The challenge "became a worldwide phenomenon" in 2018 after an Indonesian newspaper reported that it had caused a 12-year-old girl to kill herself. Awareness grew in February 2019 after the Police Service of Northern Ireland posted a public warning on Facebook, and American media personality Kim Kardashian posted on her Instagram Storypleading that YouTube remove alleged "Momo" videos.

EFFECT OF THE MOMO CHALLENGE

The Momo Challenge gained the public's attention in July 2018, when it was noticed by a YouTuber, ReignBot.^[14] Targeting teenagers, people presenting themselves as a character named Momo on WhatsApp messages try to convince people to contact them through their cell phone. As with other Internet hoaxes presented as challenges such as "Blue Whale", players are then instructed to perform a succession of tasks, refusal to do so being met with threats. Messages are subsequently accompanied by frightening or gorypictures.^[6][7][15] Although the panic eventually died down throughout the rest of 2018, it returned in a much more pervasive form in early 2019, when it was claimed that Momo was being inserted into seemingly innocuous YouTube and YouTube Kids videos about Peppa Pig and Fortnite; these claims were repeated by the group National Online Safety.

Although authorities have not confirmed any physical harm resulting from this, or even that a sustained exchange of messages took place between the Momo character and anybody, police forces and school administrations on several continents have issued warnings about the Momo Challenge and repeated common advice about Internet safety. WhatsApp is encouraging its users to block phone numbers engaging in this practice and to report them to the company.

Commenting on the numerous rumours of suicide related to the Momo Challenge, web security experts and folklorists studying urban legend have stated that the phenomenon is likely a case of moral panic: a sensationalized hoax fuelled by unverified media reports. Benjamin Radford says "the Blue Whale Game and the Momo Challenge have all the hallmarks of a classic moral panic", "fuelled by parents' fears in wanting to know what their kids are up to. There's an inherent fear in what young people are doing with technology." By September 2018, most phone numbers supposedly associated with "Momo" were out of service. The founder of fact-checking site Snopes, David Mikkelson, doubts anybody actually came to any harm and said the whole thing "may primarily be a product of bullies and pranksters latching onto a handy mechanism to goad and torment vulnerable youngsters rather than an intrinsic part of a particular social media challenge."

In response to the reports in early 2019, YouTube has said that it has "not received any links to videos showing or promoting the Momo challenge on YouTube" but permits news stories and videos intended to raise awareness of and educate against the alleged phenomenon. The website has demonetized all videos mentioning Momo, including those of news organizations, saying such content violates its advertiser-friendly content guidelines. It has also placed advisory warnings on some Momo videos alerting viewers of "inappropriate or offensive" content.

NEWS IN ASIA RELATED TO MOMO

In India, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in West Bengal indicated on August 29, 2018, that claims reported in the media about the death of two teens being linked to the Momo Challenge were "far fetched and devoid of any evidence". CID believes most of the large volume of Momo Challenge invitations in India originate locally as pranks sent to spread panic. A CID spokesperson stated that "so far, the game has not claimed any victim, nor has anyone approached us saying they have played even the first level of it." The CID statement follows weeks of news coverage about unconfirmed cases. After being alerted by a youth who received a Momo Challenge invitation, police in West Bengal issued a warning, and the cybercrime unit has opened an investigation. The Mumbai police had previously started to warn the population, although no complaints were filed. Police have not confirmed any role the Momo Challenge might have played in the death of a girl in grade 10 who committed suicide after leaving a note expressing discouragement with low grades or the suicide of an engineering student in Chennai. The Odisha Police, while issuing an advisory, are asking the media to refrain from publishing unconfirmed reports linking teen death to the Momo Challenge.

Pakistan's Minister of Information Technology announced the government intends to draft legislation making it a crime to distribute both the Momo Challenge and the Blue Whale Challenge.

Police authorities in the Philippines issued warnings to parents to be vigilant of their children's online activity after an 11-year-old boy died from apparent suicide by drug overdose on 11 January 2019, linking the incident to the viral challenge, although no official confirmation of direct relation to the incident has been established by the authorities. In the aftermath of the reports, Raffy Tulfo and other YouTubers voiced their condolences to the family, encouraging that children be monitored by their parents. They also linked the Blue Whale Challenge to the incident.

DON'T FEAR THE UNKNOWN

To me, this game is something that is building panic all around the world. It 
hasn't been proved that if this game is real or just a prank to build a sense of panic among people. But, to be true, I don't think that we shouldn't  be hesitating and fearing from a thing that has not been proved to be real.
This fear is known as the fear of the unknown, fear is our biggest enemy and we need to overcome it with the help of hope, even if the momo challenge becomes the greatest threat to the world, there is no chance that we will have lost all our hope, it still lies within us, it is the only thing that we will have when we will be on the verge of extinction, it is something that can outwit anything, it is the biggest weapon and the biggest savior. 
Hope is what makes us stronger, it is why we are all here, the smartest beings on the planet, because we had hope, we had hope that even if I fail 10,000 times while making a bulb I will still succeed (Thomas Edison), we had hope that even if I failed every time in the class I will still not give up in finding out the answer to to the greatest question (Albert Einstein), we had hope that even if I had to be killed inch by inch I will not give up for my state (Chhatrapati Shivaji). 
We, in our lives always face situations when we are at the edge of giving up but as said by Robert Kiyosaki " losers quit when they fail, winners fail until the succeed" we should never give up in finding hope. Why we keep building thoughts and emotions towards something that is non - existent, why we fail to belief in a person who is speaking the truth and trust in the person who is lying. 
The answer to these questions is your holy mind, your mind is the one to make those thoughts, your mind is someone who makes beliefs and your mind is the only answer and your mind is your only question, you can't live with the fact that your mind controls you, but, you can win with the fact that you control your mind. Be Safe, Be Secure and never forget to comment, ask or present your thoughts. Thank You!.