Looks like adults have been played.
Momo, the viral meme dating to 2016 and circulating on the internet again this month, allegedly appearing in YouTube videos telling kids to kill themselves, is an internet hoax.
Headlines around the world have been declaring Momo a timely danger all last week. “Viral ‘Momo Challenge’ Encouraging Child Suicide Terrifies Utah Kids.” “Dangerous, Viral ‘Momo Challenge’ Causing Concern for Parents.” “What Is the Momo Challenge? Sick Whats App ‘Suicide’ Game Targeting Young Kids.”
What is true is kids getting scared after seeing a picture of a freaky statue -Momo- (pictured above) that was created by a Hollywood special effects company.
Also true: parents being alarmed after noticing a YouTube clip with instructions on how to slit one’s wrists spliced into an ordinary kid video.
Also true: real.Child predation going down in YouTube comments.
Lately a lot of internet sources did their homework and came to the conclusion that Momo was real. But if they really did their homework, and did it armed with a decent working knowledge of weird internet phenomena, along with a meme dictionary, they would have figured it out. Momo,the viral meme dating to 2016 and circulating on the internet again this month and appearing in YouTube videos telling kids to kill themselves--not real.
You can thank Kim Kardashian West for taking a screenshot of a copy-and-paste Facebook status warning about Momo, which she kindly shared with her 129 million Instagram followers without bothering to do any research for kicking off the new hoax reports.
