The Blue Whale Game also known as “Blue Whale Challenge, is an Internet “game” that is claimed to exist in several countries. The game allegedly consists of a series of tasks assigned to players by administrators during a 50-day period, with the final challenge requiring the player to commit suicide. The term “Blue Whale” comes from the phenomenon of beached whales, which is linked to suicide.
Blue Whale began in Russia in 2013 with “F57”, one of the names of the so-called “death group” of the VKontakte social network,and allegedly caused its first suicide in 2015.Philipp Budeikin, a former psychology student who was expelled from his university, claimed that he invented the game. Budeikin stated that his purpose was to “clean” the society by pushing to suicide those he deemed as having no value.
In Russia in 2016, Blue Whale came into broader use among teenagers after a journalist brought attention to it through an article that linked many unrelated suicide victims to the Blue Whale, creating a wave of moral panic in Russia.Later, Budeikin was arrested and pled guilty to “inciting at least 16 teenage girls to commit suicide”, leading to Russian suicide prevention legislation and renewed world-wide concern over the Blue Whale phenomenon. It has also been linked to other rising self-harm trends, such as “human embroidery” in China.
The game is based on the relationship between the challengers (also called players or participants) and the administrators. It involves a series of duties given by the administrators that players must complete, usually one per day, some of which involve self-mutilation.Some tasks can be given in advance, while others can be passed on by the administrators on that day, the last task being suicide.
The list of tasks, to be completed in 50 days, includes waking up at 4:20 A.M., climbing a crane, carving a specific phrase on the person’s own hand or arm, doing secret tasks, poking a needle to the arm or leg, standing on a bridge and roof, listening to music, and watching videos sent to the challengers by the administrator.
In March 2017, Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs Carmen Dan expressed her deep concerns about the phenomenon. Mayor of Bucharest Gabriela Fireadescribed the game as “extremely dangerous”.
The game has caused significant concern in Western Europe, including France and the United Kingdom.