Momo Challenge hoax

The "Momo Challenge" is an internet hoax and urban legend that was rumoured to spread through social media and other outlets as a creepypasta. It was reported that children and adolescents were being harassed by a user named Momo to perform a series of dangerous tasks including violent attacks, self-harm, harming others, and suicide. Despite claims that the phenomenon had reached worldwide proportions in July 2018, the number of actual complaints were relatively small and many law enforcement agencies have not been able to confirm that anyone was harmed as a direct result of it. Moreover, the Momo Challenge sparked global panic and prompted urgent warnings from authorities and child safety advocates. Reports of children encountering Momo's disturbing messages circulated widely, causing heightened fears among parents and caregivers.

Discussions among YouTube commentators about a new internet phenomenon promoting self-harm similar to the Blue Whale Challenge surfaced in July 2018, followed in August by news items reporting allegations that cases of self-harm by children in South America and India had been prompted by WhatsApp messages. Reports were based on stories of teenagers being targeted by people presenting themselves as a character named Momo, trying to persuade people to contact them through their cell phones. As with the aforementioned Blue Whale Challenge, and other Internet hoaxes presented as challenges, players are then instructed to perform a series of tasks; refusal to do so is met with threats and gory pictures.

In France, a group at the Ministry of the Interior was reviewing the situation daily in late July 2018. Public warnings were issued in August and September by police forces in countries including Argentina, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Canada, Mexico and the United States.

A representation of the Momo character appeared in the popular game Minecraft in the form of player-made game skins and an unofficial mod created by the game's users. A police officer in Ohio was concerned to see Momo in his son's copy of the game, worried about the possibility that the mod could lead to participation in the Momo Challenge. After news reports started to outline the link between the Minecraft mod and the Momo Challenge, Microsoft announced it was taking measures to "restrict access to the mod" in question.

After weeks of news coverage about unconfirmed cases and warnings issued by the West Bengal police and the Mumbai police, India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) 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". CBI believed most of the large volume of Momo Challenge invitations in India originate locally as pranks sent to spread panic. A CBI 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 police could not confirm any role the Momo Challenge might have played in the death of a girl in grade 10 who died by suicide after leaving a note expressing discouragement with lower grades or the suicide of an engineering student in Chennai. The Odisha Police already issued an advisory asking the media to refrain from publishing unconfirmed reports linking teen death to the Momo Challenge.

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

WhatsApp encouraged its users to block phone numbers engaging in this practice and to report them to the company. By September 2018, most phone numbers supposedly associated with "Momo" were out of service and the news coverage of the phenomenon decreased.

Police 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. On March 10, 16-year-old Christine Silawan was found murdered, with her face skinned beyond recognition. The main suspect in her case reportedly was influenced by the Momo challenge.