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Momo Challenge Hoax Leaves Parents Worried For Kids’ Safety
- The Momo challenge, a viral hoax sweeping the internet, encourages kids to speak to “momo” via WhatsApp.
- Momo allegedly tells people to do dangerous things, including self-harm.
- Momo has also reportedly been found in YouTube videos targeted towards children, concerning parents.
What is the Momo Challenge?
A viral game called the Momo challenge is spreading around the internet and worrying parents.
The Momo challenge, which is widely known to be a hoax, is popular among young teens and children. It involves this image, depicted below, which is known to those who participate as Momo. The Momo image is actually a statue made by a Japanese artist, and it is not known how it came to be attached to the Momo challenge.
Those who have participated claim that Momo can be reached by texting a certain number on WhatsApp. However, most people who text the rumored numbers that connect to Momo don’t actually get a response.
However, those who do say they reached Momo, claim that they receive incredibly creepy messages and photos. Momo claims to know personal information about the texter, and then encourages the texter to do dangerous activities and record themselves doing it for proof. Some of these activities can allegedly include acts of self-harm and suicide.
Popularity in July
Momo rose to popularity in July, 2018, which is when many initially deemed it a hoax. ReignBot, a YouTuber who often posts content exploring creepy trends, made a video diving into it.
In her video, she claimed that there are three numbers that people use to contact Momo. One of which was Japanese, another Mexican, and another Colombian. However, even the Japanese number, which was the most popular, could communicate in Spanish, making it very popular in Spanish-speaking countries.
ReignBot ultimately chalked Momo up to be a viral urban legend, as it is hard to find examples or screenshots of “real” interactions with Momo.
However, in August police in Argentina investigated whether or not Momo had anything to do with a 12-year-old girl’s suicide. Additionally, the deaths of two people in India, as well as the deaths of two children in Colombia were reportedly linked to Momo. However, the ties were never definitively proven in any of these cases.
BBC also reported that hackers could be behind Momo, using it to get texters’ information, but that has not been confirmed either.
Momo Allegedly Found in Children’s Content
Now, Momo is riding a second wave of popularity, as the hoax has spread, specifically on YouTube. Some have reported that clips of Momo are appearing in videos on YouTube and YouTube Kids.
The videos specifically sited appear to be episodes of Peppa Pig and Fortnite videos. The thumbnails for these videos appear to be safe, and they begin with kid-friendly content, but partway through, Momo shows up.
The images and clips can reportedly be gory, violent, and threatening, and terrify children who see them.
A Facebook post by Amyre Shonny on Tuesday went viral, and stated that parents should be “very cautious of what our child watches on YouTube and KIDS YOUTUBE.”
Other parents have shared the post, and claimed they will no longer allow their children to watch YouTube.
This follows another controversy on YouTube, where clips giving instructions as to how to commit acts of self-harm have been found in children’s videos. Right now, it is unclear if these two are related.
Schools and police departments have issued warnings about this. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said:
“Our advice as always, is to supervise the games your kids play and be extremely mindful of the videos they are watching on YouTube. Ensure that the devices they have access to are restricted to age suitable content.”
Kim Kardashian also joined the conversation by posting on her Instagram story on Tuesday night asking YouTube to “please help.”
Instagram story by Kim Kardashian, Screenshot taken by Rogue Rocket 
Instagram story by Kim Kardashian, Screenshot taken by Rogue Rocket
YouTube gave a statement to CBS on Tuesday, where they said they remove content related to the Momo challenge.
“Our Community Guidelines prohibit harmful and dangerous challenges, including promoting the Momo challenge, and we remove this content quickly when flagged to us.”
Even with this new wave, Momo is still a known hoax and many think that parents are overreacting now.
See What Others Are Saying: (Forbes) (CBS) (Newsweek)
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Numerous Sexual Assault Allegations Shake the Pokémon YouTube Community
- Nearly a dozen people have spoken out against at least five YouTubers in the Pokémon community, accusing them of sexual assault and harassment.
- The allegations first went viral in a video uploaded by a user named AttackOnSylveon, in which she described being abused by a man who was prominent in the Pokémon community when she was 15-years-old.
AttackOnSylveon’s First Video
Allegations of sexual assault and harassment have shaken the online Pokémon community, where numerous people have accused at least five prominent YouTubers of sexually abusing minors.
These allegations first started going viral after a user named AttackOnSylveon posted a video on March 27, called “Finally coming forward…”
In the video, AttackOnSylveon describes an interaction she had on Twitter when she was 15-years-old with a man who was six years older than her. In the video, she said she does not want to name names or take legal action, but said she felt like she needed to share her story.
AttackOnSylveon said that the interaction started when she posted a picture of herself in a swimsuit by a pool. They talked a lot, and he would often comment on how she looked and what she was wearing. She said that at the time she did not see a problem with that.
Then he started asking her to send him pictures.
One night, he started sending her pictures of himself shirtless and asked her to send pictures of herself in response. She did not send him pictures in return, but he started to get pushy.
“He continued to make me feel like the bad guy because I’ve done all these things to him and made him feel like he was being like left out I guess,” she said, “And I, I really didn’t want to do it.”
AttackOnSylveon then said she sent him a picture of herself covered in a blanket, but he told her she could do better. Again, she told him she did not want to, but he still pushed her.
“I knew it was wrong,” she said, “And I knew I shouldn’t have done it. But anyway, I went on and I sent him the pictures that he wanted.”
After that night, she tried to distance herself from him, but he continued to message her. Eventually, he gave up, and they stopped talking.
Then, about a year later, he messaged her again, wanting to reconnect.
AttackOnSylveon did not want anything to do with him. “He would not let it go.” She said, “He messaged me on twitter, on Snapchat, on Kik, and on Facebook multiple times. Asking if we could pretty much talk the same way we used to talk before.”
She goes on to say she felt like he was taking advantage of her because she was young, but she just wanted him to stop.
Eventually, she finally snapped and told him she did not want to talk anymore, she said, showing screenshots of their conversation where she ended the relationship.
She ends the video by calling for others in the community to speak out, “I just want people to know what happened, and know that if something is happening to them they need to do something about it.”
“For this entire time I’m 15. I was super young and he still took advantage of me,” she said, “He was 21 and he knew what he was doing. He knew it and he was wrong and he didn’t care and that’s the problem is the fact that he didn’t care.”
AttackOnSylveon’s Second Video
The next day, AttackOnSylveon posted a second video where she said that her initial post got a lot more attention than she anticipated, and that people were asking her to use the person’s name.
She said that it was brought to her attention that if she did not name names, they would continue to assault people.
“His name is Josh.” She said in the second video, “And you know the story about that. But what I didn’t mention in that video was the fact that that didn’t happen once with one person. That happened with three people.”
She said the second man was named Enrique, and that he was 21. She said he would send her explicit paragraphs, and did so under the guise of them being in a relationship.
She then said that the last person is named Nathan and that he is incredibly difficult for her to talk about because he had actually threatened her.
“That person’s name is Nate. Well, Nathan, I guess. And I never wanted to speak out because I thought he would hurt me or my family and that he would send out the pictures, but he did it anyway,” she said.
More Allegations & Initial Response
The response to AttackOnSylveon’s videos happened fast and was widespread.
Many of the men she named in her videos are well known in the Pokémon community, so a lot of them were identified.
Specifically, the man she refers to as “Nathan” is Nathan Putnam, known as Dekadurr on Twitter and NintendoEncoder on YouTube.
After AttackOnSylveon shared her story, more women came out and said they had similar interactions with Putnam, some of whom provided evidence.
In an article published in Kotaku, at least three women described similar interactions with Putnam when they were underage or 18.
According to Kotaku: “Two of these women described how Putnam aggressively demanded naked pictures from them even after expressing how uncomfortable they felt. Two more say he hit on them when they were underage.”
One user who was keeping a thread of everything that was going on posted a screenshot of a message allegedly between Putnam and an anonymous source.
In the message, Putnam denies the allegations and says he barely talked to AttackOnSylveon, who he refers to as “Felicity,” which is her name on Twitter. Then he says he’s going to upload a video later.
It is unclear if he ever did upload a video, because on the same day he deleted his Twitter and Instagram. The then deleted his YouTube account the following day.
While all of this was going on, numerous people took to Twitter to call out Putnam, with many saying they had heard about him preying on young girls in the past. One of Putnam’s friends even said they knew about it and told him to stop.
Others commended AttackOnSylveon on Twitter and in the comments on her videos for coming out and sharing her story
Accusations Against TheKingNappy
One of the people who came out against Putnam was prominent Pokémon Youtuber, Kyle McNeal, who goes by TheKingNappy.
In a now-deleted tweet, McNeal released a statement condemning Putnam. He said that while there were rumors about what he was doing, he never looked into the extent of it or the details.
“So I want to start this off by apologizing for not speaking, publicly, about this situation sooner.” He wrote, “First and foremost, I want to make it absolutely clear that Nathan’s actions are incredibly cruel and unforgivable.”
He then goes on to say he spoke to Putnam about the situation and promptly cut ties with him. He added that he did not “lead the charge against Nathan” because he “didn’t want to dive headfirst into another pool of drama and allow that to consume my Twitter or my Twitch.”
“In hindsight, if I would have just said something from the jump, that wouldn’t have been something I needed to worry about.” He continued, “For those affected by Nathan’s actions, you don’t deserve any of what you’ve gone through.”
Shortly after McNeal posted his statement, a user named Callum posted a statement claiming that McNeal guilted him into being in a relationship when he was 16 and McNeal was 21.
“I initially told him I didn’t feel the same way, and that I couldn’t be in a relationship with him. He gave me an ultimatum. Date him or we’re no longer friends.” Wrote Callum, “I eventually agreed to try dating Nappy. At the time I was very ignorant about relationships, I didn’t take them seriously and I was unsure of my sexuality, I wanted to see if I could form feelings for him.”
He concludes his statement, writing, “This is something I really didn’t want to get involved with, but I felt it was important I came forward and said my piece since it’s been a question on everyone’s mind.”
On the same day, another user named Luke posted screenshots of a conversation he had with McNeal, and said that he would continuously make unwanted advances on him.
McNeal denied the allegations in a live stream which he later deleted. “Callum I hope and pray that any shred of respect left in you, you will tell the truth regarding this.” He said, “There is nothing that went down between Calum and I.”
McNeal also blamed his accusers and said they were the ones responsible.
“Nobody else made those choices but you,” said McNeal, “You chose to show up. You show to be a part. You chose to be quieter about how you actually felt for so fucking long.”
Since then, other accusations from other users have come out against McNeal as well, and other statements have been made on the situation.
On Wednesday, a Twitter user named Gabe said in a Twitlonger that he had a similar relationship with Kyle when he was 16 and Kyle was 25. Gabe also included numerous screenshots of conversations he had with Kyle on Discord and over text.
More Allegations
Unfortunately, that is not where the story ends. Since then, other allegations have come out against more members of the Pokémon community.
According to two people who spoke with Kotaku, a Pokémon YouTuber who goes by Mudkip Mama, also known as VegasJamie “aggressively pursued them when they were either 18 or under 18.”
A woman named Nikki said in a Twitlonger post that MudkipMama became “overly sexual” with her in a DM which she also posted on Twitter, writing: “Mrs. VegasJamie trys to claim she doesn’t hit on kids yet I’m 15”
Nikki also shared a screenshot on Twitter where MudkipMama allegedly admits to “dating” a fan with an “age difference.”
Additionally, over the weekend, other people came out against a YouTuber who goes by Mizumi and who is known for modding Nintendo games.
A woman identified only as Tori said in a Twitlonger post that he asked her for nude pictures when he was 18 and when she was underage. When she sent them, he tried to blackmail her.
Another woman identified as Jenny told Kotaku that he pressured her into sending naked pictures by “talking about wanting to kill himself and self harming behaviors and said things about how getting nudes would ‘help him feel better.’”
In an email to Kotaku, Mizumi did not directly deny the allegations but wrote: “This isn’t entirely my fault. The line is grayer than what everyone thinks and everyone here is a victim in one way or the other.”
Yet another person who is only identified as BiseProductions was also involved in the accusations, with many people on Twitter connecting him to AttackOnSylveon’s videos, though it’s unclear if he is one of the people she names.
The day after her second video was uploaded, BiseProductions posted an apology on Twitter, though his account has since been deleted.
In the apology, which was re-posted by another user, he writes, “I am truly sorry for my actions,” continuing, “I was very aware, after the fact, that this was not ok in the slightest.”
It will be interesting to see how this community responds. It seems like they are largely in favor of holding people accountable, but if more accusations come out, it might become difficult to keep the community unified.
See what others are saying: (Kotaku) (Newsweek) (Pedestrian)
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