Children’s charities have warned that media coverage and official warnings about the so-called Momo challenge have done more harm than good, creating a moral panic and genuine fear among children. The hoax, which centres on false claims that a mysterious character uses WhatsApp to encourage suicide, has prompted hundreds of schools to send letters to parents and questions in Parliament.
Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner for England, said that well-meaning warnings can amplify the impact of a non-existent threat. She encouraged parents to talk to their children, noting that children are often good judges of real risks. Longfield warned that repeated false alarms could weaken the credibility of genuine safety warnings.
The current wave of panic appears to have started with a Facebook post in Westhoughton, Bolton, and was amplified by news outlets including the Manchester Evening News, MailOnline, Daily Star, Daily Express and Daily Mirror. The BBC initially published an article sourced to a police officer’s Facebook post, but later removed it and replaced it with a piece describing the challenge as a hoax.
Conservative MP Douglas Ross called for an urgent debate after concerned parents in his Moray constituency reported children being encouraged to contact a WhatsApp number. Cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom said the government was “extremely concerned” but had found no conclusive evidence of risk.
Charities described the warnings as “fake news” spread by adults, and said they could become a self-fulfilling prophecy by encouraging children to seek out harmful material. The Daily Mirror has retracted a false claim that 130 teenagers in Russia had killed themselves as a result of the craze.
