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Trending: The Truth Behind a So-Called 'Suicide Game’

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The Truth Behind a So-Called 'Suicide Game’

09/11/2018 GMT

BBC World Service - Trending, The Truth Behind a So-Called 'Suicide Game’

Hundreds of suicides were linked to the “Blue Whale Challenge” – but what’s the truth?

Hundreds of suicides were linked to the “Blue Whale Challenge” – but the truth behind the claims is much murkier than it seems

Hundreds of suicides were linked to the Blue Whale Challenge – but what is the truth behind the claims? 

The challenge was described as an online game, where participants were given 50 tasks to perform over 50 days. A report in independent Russian news outlet Novaya Gazeta linked the game to 130 teenage suicides, and a 21-year-old man who was arrested in a case related to the challenge pleaded guilty and is currently in a Russian prison. But others are sceptical that the challenge can definitively be blamed for the tragedies. And in a twist, researchers say the game may not have even existed before the initial media reports. 

Presenter: Mike Wendling
Reporter: Ant Adeane

(Photo: A blue plastic toy whale. Credit: Getty Images)

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