Hyderabad: The Union HRD ministry and the Ministry for electronics and information technology has issued an advisory cautioning teachers against spread of the Momo Challenge on the internet.
The game challenges the players to to communicate with unidentified persons, and consists of a variety of self-harming dates which becomes increasingly risky as the game progresses. It it finally ends with a suicide challenge. The MHRD has instructed schools and colleges to issue an advisory to the students and their parents regarding the game. The ministry issued an advisory against the game as it also involved challenges that encourage teenagers, children and other users to engage in a series of violent acts as challenges.
The game encourages children and teenagers to add unknown contacts on Whatsapp by the name of ‘Momo’. Once the contact is added, the image of a terrifying Japanese Momo doll with bulging eyes appears in the list.
The game controller entices players to perform a series of challenges and those playing the game are threatened with violent images, audios or videos if players do not follow the instructions. The administrator uses social media platforms to invite or incite the children to play the game which may eventually lead to the child taking extreme steps.
