In the modern world, you barely have time to keep up with all the trends among teenagers. Who would have thought that suicide could become a new fashion? “Set the alarm, don’t oversleep, the hands have touched 4:20, run out onto the balcony and fly...”- death groups on VKontakte are gaining more and more popularity every day. The media project “Nakipelo” tried to figure out what forces children to participate in a terrible game with suicide in the finale and who is behind it.
From November 2015 to April 2016, 130 suicides of children who were members of the same communities on the Internet were counted in Russia. People started talking publicly about the so-called “death groups” after Novaya Gazeta’s material. We are talking about such VKontakte associations as “Wake me up at 4:20”, “Whales don’t cry”, “Blue whale. A Quiet House”, “Good Children Don’t Cry”, “Sea of Whale”, “A Quiet House” and so on.
Now the game is popular in Ukraine. The head of the Ukrainian Cyber Police Department, Sergei Demedyuk, said that as of February 12, his employees had identified 13 thousand participants in “death groups” from Ukraine. Two deaths have been recorded in our country: in Donetsk and Ivano-Frankivsk. It was possible to confirm that these teenagers completed the deadly game from beginning to end.
Nya.Bye.
The story began after the news about the death of a certain Rina Palenkova, a student from Ussuriysk. On November 22, 2015, the girl posted on her page on the social network VKontakte a selfie near a moving train with the caption “nya.bye.” The next day, 16-year-old Rina lay down on the rails and committed suicide. The photos instantly spread all over the Internet, and the girl became a cult image for groups calling for suicide.
Perform to die
Whales are most often mentioned in such communities. The image of "lone wanderers" who inexplicably wash ashore and die is heavily romanticized. Quite harmless animals have become a symbol of “noble suicide”, where death is presented as something good - something that will bring relief and give happiness. Teenagers who have problems with their parents, personal life, or friends are invited to a game lasting 50 days. Those who reach the end must die at the appointed time, strictly following the instructions of the curator.
But getting into the game and staying in it is not so easy. There is a strict selection of children who are really ready to do anything. I was able to talk to a 15-year-old girl from Ukraine who has been participating in this game for two weeks. She wished to remain anonymous.
“Most often the real groups are closed and very well hidden. Of course, if you search, in some communities about whales you can find links to other groups, then more links, and more. Sooner or later, if you really want to, you will see a genuine group. But there is another way: to start the game, you need to write a certain verse and hashtags on your page. After a while, your curator should write to you and give you your first task,” says the girl.
“First you need to get your number, with which you will continue to play. I was told to write a poem related to death, then take a photo with an object that can be used to commit suicide, scrawl #F57 on my wrist, and then post it all on the wall with a certain hashtag. Then the game began,” says a member of the death group.
The girl says that each task is given several days, depending on the complexity. She had already filmed a video of herself struggling with her fears, scratching the curator’s name on her hand, and now she was asked to carve a whale on her leg. And they sent a photo:
When asked why she was doing this, the girl replied that it was just for fun. Now there are a lot of posts and materials on the Internet about such groups - that’s where she learned about the game. Teenagers in these communities are divided into those who play and want to play, and those who ask not to do stupid things and not listen to curators who have been professionally brainwashing children for 50 days.
Why do the “players” agree to such cruel tasks? It turns out that everyone has their own rating for completed tasks. There is a great temptation for a child to stay in the game as long as possible. After all, it is at this age that the desire to belong to a community, to be with a team, to become the first in a group often exceeds the instinct of self-preservation. For any question like “why, who and why” - an exception, for any doubt - an exception, for fear of causing bodily harm - an exception. The closer the 50th day, the fewer participants.
At the end there are a few people left who are ordered to kill themselves at a certain time. If a child refuses, they send him a link and ask him to follow it. When he does this, a page appears that says "Error 404. Not Found". In this way, the curators determine the whereabouts of the child, and then threaten to kill his family, sending the exact address and even apartment number. After this, the teenager, who had been self-destructing for 50 days, frightened and exhausted, finds no other way out but to take his own life.
Wake me up at 4:20. Riddle of numbers
There is one strange detail in the game: children are forced to wake up at 4:20 every day and check in in a private conversation. Why at this particular time?
In historical terms, the number 420 (pronounced four-twenty) is used as a term in the North American drug subculture to indicate a popular time for smoking marijuana. Young people gather to smoke cannabis together and socialize. In our case, 4:20 is the time at which, according to statistics, people most often commit suicide.
50 days before my suicide
In death groups, in addition to imitating the girl Rina, they created a cult of the book “50 days before my suicide.” Its author is a girl from Astrakhan under the pseudonym Stace Kramer. Real name: Anastasia Kholova. She wrote her story at the age of 16. The main character is a teenager suffering from unrequited love, whose parents are on the verge of divorce. Therefore, the young girl decides to commit suicide. She gives herself 50 days to choose whether to die or continue living.
Last June, a court in Russia banned the book. The fact is that impressionable teenagers committed suicide after reading it. Rospotrebnadzor found that the work “50 days before my suicide” contains information prohibited for children. However, the book is still available in Ukraine.
“I saved humanity from bio-waste”
On November 15, 2016, a suspect was detained in the Moscow region as part of a criminal case for incitement to commit suicide. He turned out to be the administrator of one of the “death groups” on VKontakte, Philip Budeikin, registered online under the pseudonym “Philip Lis.”
A few days before his arrest, Philip Budeikin told Sankt-Peterburg.ru over a dictaphone recording how everything really happened and why he pushed teenagers to commit suicide.
« There are people, and there is bio-waste. These are those who do not represent any value to society and bring or will only cause harm to society. I cleaned our society of such people, says Philip . - Started in 2013. Then I created “F57” (one of the names of the “death groups” on VKontakte - editor’s note). I just created it to see what happens. I uploaded shocking content there, and it began to attract people. In 2014 she was banned. I laughed for a long time when I saw how everyone was trying to understand what “F57” means. It's simple. F – Philip, my name. 57 – the last digits of my then number. I've been thinking about the idea for five years. You could say I was getting ready. I thought through the concept of the project, specific levels and stages. It was necessary to separate the normal ones from the biotrash.”
Philip says that during the game and communication it becomes clear who is who. Then he goes on Skype with the person, puts him in a trance and learns some things from his life, after which he makes a decision. At some point, you need to encourage your teen to stay awake at night. If a healthy sleep pattern is disrupted, the psyche is easily affected.
“Perhaps I am credited with the deaths of 130 teenagers because the idea suddenly became some kind of trend. A lot of imitators have appeared, which, by the way, really infuriates me. Because of all this, such a wild noise arose that I had to stop for a while.”
Philip Budeikin is 21 years old; in his third year of studying in the specialty “Psychology” he was expelled from the university.
“I have bipolar personality disorder, and what I do is connected with my difficult childhood. My older brother beat me and my mother. They often beat me on the street. I’m sure that all this had a great impact,” Philip assessed his condition.
Suicide is always a cry for help
The desire to attract attention, to feel special and significant makes children join groups where they can be understood and supported. Misunderstanding by parents and first disappointments in love make teenagers vulnerable. Being under the influence of others, they cease to understand that death is just a moment, after which you will not have a second chance to fix everything.
The police are looking for and trying to block death groups, but very quickly several others appear instead of one. Therefore, conscious teenagers decided to take the situation into their own hands. They created the groups “Antikity”, “Against the Whales”, “Antikity. We are for life” and many similar ones. There they drop links to curators and new groups that need to be banned, as well as pages of children who play with death. Together they begin to dissuade them. And it gives its results. Children feel supported and understand that someone needs them. Who would have thought that in order for a child to want to live again, you just need to talk to him and at least try to hear him.
There is a real war going on between those who make people die, those who want death, and those who are trying to save them. It is led by teenagers, and they are fighting for a very valuable coin - life. Unfortunately, those opposed to suicide do not always win.
Death is an abstract concept
Regarding Kharkov region, then the dynamics of child suicides range from five to 12 suicides per year. For example, in 2015 nine teenagers committed suicide in 2016 - six, V 2017 already registered three cases. Just since 2010 he passed away on his own 61 teenagers, more 134 - self-harmed. The police clarify that not a single case in the Kharkov region is connected with the activities of the so-called “death groups.”
"According to statistics, 60% child suicides are committed by children from intact families,” says the head of the juvenile prevention department of the preventive activities department of the National Police in the Kharkov region Andrey Khomenko.
Teenagers are mostly suicidal at age from 13 to 16 years old.
Candidate of Psychological Sciences Alla Shilina explains: death for a child is an abstract concept. He does not connect it with his personality or with his loved ones. Due to immaturity and lack of life experience, children often perceive minor conflict situations as hopeless and can lead to suicide.
“A distinctive feature in childhood is the absence of fear of death. The child does not understand that death is an irreversible point. It seems to him that he will be gone for some time, but then he will return to his loved ones,” says Alla Shilina.
According to the psychologist, the main motives that can prompt a teenager to think about suicide: loneliness, shame, resentment, protest, dissatisfaction with oneself.
The psychologist clarifies: parents should be concerned if they notice that their child begins to say that he does not want to live, does not see the meaning in life and no one understands him. Also alarming bells are depression, sleep and appetite disturbances, decreased interest in learning and socialization.
“On the eve of suicide, teenagers begin to ask for forgiveness from loved ones and give away their favorite things,” the psychologist gives examples.
According to the expert, responsibility for most child suicides lies with adults. Suicidal tendencies in adolescents increase if they do not have a trusting relationship with their parents. The latter should be attentive to their children and respect their individual personality. Parents need to work on increasing their children’s self-esteem, forming an adequate attitude towards themselves, teaching them to cope with stress and set goals in life.
The story of our heroine was a happy exception. The girl stopped in time and did not continue the deadly game.
A deadly game is spreading across social media like wildfire.
This is increasingly looking like a new terrible epidemic. The epidemic spread by social networks...
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
On the social networks VKontakte and Instagram (it is now becoming more and more popular - you don’t need to write there, to be noticed, you just need to post a funny picture just taken with a smartphone, and this is easier) in late January - early February, pictures with whales swimming in ocean, and with alluring hashtags “blue whale”, “wake me up at 4.20”, “I’m in the game”, “Quiet house”. Hashtags - for those who don’t know - are links that, by clicking on them, can take you to the desired page on a social network or to a specific community.
Such hashtags are already a reason to seriously worry. We, adults, remember one of the most high-profile investigations of last year, when so-called “Death Groups” were discovered on social networks. Groups in which impressionable teenagers, going through difficult times as teenagers, were provoked to commit suicide. There were quite a lot of such groups.
These are the tasks that curators send to participants.
There was even a version that it was the administrator of one of these groups who “led” the Pskov teenagers who ran away from home and then shot themselves with weapons found at the dacha. This happened quite recently - in November last year. 15-year-old Denis and Katya quarreled with their parents and went out of town to their dacha in the village of Strugi Krasnye. And when the police found them, they began to shoot back, simultaneously broadcasting a “cool picture” on VKontakte. Live streaming is so exciting. And corresponded with friends. And then... Two shots fired by Denis. First to Katya, then to myself.
The authorities tried to fight the “Death Groups” in their own ways. There are few such ways. Close groups. Well, catch their administrators. Last year, in ten regions of Russia, the police raided the apartments of active members of the Groups. Searches were carried out on those who operated under the nicknames Philippe Moret, Miron Seth, Guardian of Truth. The administrator of several groups, Philip Lis (real name Budeykin), was detained. He is still in custody. It would seem that the wave of interest in “death groups” has subsided. This is one of the properties of virtual life - here the waves roll in very quickly, but they also lose their popularity just as quickly.
But then someone decided to throw some logs into the fire again. Now we have organized “dancing on the bones” in a different way, through pictures on Instagram, inviting us into an exciting game. Judging by the information on the Internet, teenagers in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine are now “playing” it. According to Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondents, the number of players who tried to commit suicide already numbers in the dozens. Thank God, no suicides have been registered yet, where it has been proven that they occurred after provocations in the “game.” But this is according to official information from law enforcement agencies.
Yesterday in Krasnoyarsk, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case regarding an attempt to induce suicide through “death groups” on a social network. Yulia Ch. is 13 years old. She studies in the seventh grade of a very ordinary school. Classmates - well done! - they noticed that the girl was acting strangely and had wounds on her arm. And they told the teacher. We realized it in time: the schoolgirl really entered the “game” and even completed the first task. When adults began to study the social network, it turned out that 33 more children from the same educational institution had joined the same group. And this is in one small school in one city in the country...
Such hashtags and pictures are already a reason to seriously worry.
HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?
When a child clicks on a “game” hashtag (link), he gets into one of the groups. Here the “curator” contacts him. It is he who gives tasks to seemingly check whether the teenager is ready to “play”. But first - correspondence. The “curator” finds out which family the new participant is from, what his mood is, and finds out information in order to create a psychological portrait of the “player.” They usually ask you to also send geodata (coordinates of the place where the teenager is located). Well, then he is given various tasks - a test of courage. For example, the simplest thing: draw a whale on your hand with a ballpoint pen - as a sign of commitment to the group. The next task may be an order to cut your hands with a dangerous blade. Like, show that you're not afraid. Well then...
If a teenager resists, you can now intimidate him - they say, we will come to your house and it will be worse for you. How did you find out the address? So the child himself gave the “curator” geodata!
Why all this? “Curators” play like that!
The teenager cut his hand with a sharpener blade. The school nurse says the cuts are shallow and not life-threatening.
FAKE SAVIORS
And now the most interesting thing - by clicking on a dangerous hashtag it is not at all a fact that a teenager will end up in a real death group. Our young journalist Daria Lekhnitskaya conducted an experiment on herself. I registered, joined the group and thus found… a girl who introduced herself as a “curator”. But, as it turned out during the correspondence, she started her own group to “save” children, to distract them from thoughts of suicide. Like, just today she found and “saved” eleven teenagers who got confused on the Internet.
What kind of savior? Does she have the necessary knowledge (let’s say that the group already includes children with some psychological problems) as a specialist in adolescent psychology? Or is this how a person struggles with his complexes? On the Internet, you don’t know who you’re really communicating with - instead of a photograph, any picture, instead of a name - a nickname. And how such “soul-saving” conversations will affect teenagers is not clear.
I noticed that these same “volunteer” saviors change their nickname within a day, open an account and fill it with their photos,” says Daria. - In general, using the interest in “playing with death” they gain a bunch of subscribers. So I begin to doubt the sincerity of the act.
In general, those who dangerously “play” with teenagers have different goals. But it’s clear that the “game” didn’t just appear. Another promotion of “Groups of Death” - someone’s business. Not necessarily one that makes money. An increase in the number of subscribers is also a benefit.
Children receive a task and immediately begin a dangerous game.
Good evening, my dear readers!
Today I want to touch on a very important topic that many are currently discussing. This dangerous groups on social networks and their impact on our children.
How to protect children from harmful and dangerous groups on social networks? Now this issue worries not only parents, but also law enforcement agencies.
Recently I just read about these games and their consequences, taking place in Russia and Ukraine. And our Transnistria was not spared such a misfortune. Cases of child deaths have already been registered in the republic due to children playing dangerous games that end in suicide.
What's happening?
There have already been quite a few high-profile cases of teenagers committing suicide.
The curator finds out the psychological state of the child and finds out where he lives. And gives “quest” tasks. Children perform tasks, mutilate themselves, make marks on their hands with a blade, draw a whale, for example.
The climax of the dangerous game is suicide. And this is very scary, because children seriously complete tasks and do what they are ordered to do in the group.
Nowadays there is still one dangerous game among children: “Run or Die.” The point of the game is to cross the road as close as possible in front of moving traffic. Therefore, drivers should be extremely careful if they see a group of children near the road, especially close up. And adults should not pass by such entertainment for children.
Who's to blame?
Who organizes such “games” for children? Psychologists have compiled a portrait of these “curators.” These are people who have isolated themselves from society, they have a lot of different complexes and they compensate for their complexes on social networks, where you can be whoever you want and realize your desires. They manipulate other people, especially children, into doing dangerous things.
Another problem is teenagers who don’t know what to do. Previously, children often played in the courtyards after school, with peers, and went to sports sections and clubs. Today, many teenagers sit at the computer, phones and tablets. Many people learn to use tablets before they learn to read and write. And it’s easier for them to communicate with virtual interlocutors than with guys.
Correspondence in virtual space is a way of communicating with the world. Such children are very easy to control.
What to do?
Of course, such dangerous groups need to be closed. But if they close one, three more will appear. As they say, “the forbidden fruit is sweet,” especially for teenagers.
Only parents themselves, loved ones and teachers should save their children.
Now schools in our city, especially in middle and high schools, are holding meetings with children. My nephew is in 5th grade. The teacher talked to them and checked the students’ hands. I discovered that two children had cuts on their hands and some were playing these dangerous games and performing tasks!
How to recognize dangerous groups
Each group has its own sign, logo. This is either the symbolism of the gods, images of knives, blades, blood. There are also photographs in black, gray and red tones.
Black color is mysterious. Teenagers are told that in order to go to the “white side”, they need to go through the “black side.”
Gray color is melancholy, depression. Looking at such pictures, the teenager concludes that life is colorless and useless.
The color red encourages impulsive actions.
Also in the group there may be appropriate music that drives you into a trance and depression. If a teenager is in this state, it is easy to control him.
Signals that a child has joined a dangerous group
- The child becomes sharply obedient and detached
The child was friends with the guys, then abruptly changed his interests. This is a warning sign. The teenager distances himself from real life and agrees with everything he is told.
He believes that everything that happens around him is not important, and his goal is communication in the virtual community.
2.Daily routine changes
If a child suddenly changes his daily routine, sits down at the computer at the same time, and becomes irritable. if he is not allowed to do this, then this should also alert him.
Often the group administrator arranges control and fosters obedience, sets the time when the child must enter the group and check in.
3. The teenager is lethargic and does not get enough sleep
If a child cannot wake up in the morning, he does not get enough sleep. The child completes tasks where he needs to wake up around 4-5 in the morning, take a photo at this time, send it, like it to someone in the group. The child becomes very irritable, at this time adrenaline is produced and a feeling of fear and anxiety sets in.
4.Strange drawings
Children who belong to dangerous groups develop previously unusual drawings associated with the new “ideology.” Children draw butterflies, whales, symbols of suicide groups.
Parents should be very attentive to their children and watch their behavior. The child may have sad thoughts, give away his things, and may have cuts on his body. scratches.
It is very important to find an approach to your child, try to get the child to talk so that he can express his emotions, what has accumulated inside him. Repeat more often: “You are very dear to us, we need you.” The child must understand that he is loved, that his family needs him.
Talk about a terrible incident that happened, for example, in Mariupol with a 15-year-old girl. Ask him what he thinks about it.
What should parents do?
If you suspect that a child is interested in suspicious content, try to check when the child is not looking. Start a conversation about where he hangs out, who he communicates with, what groups he is registered in. You cannot openly ask for the password from the group where he is registered, otherwise the teenager may get angry that you are intruding into his personal space.
The child must feel a trusting relationship on the part of the parents. He shouldn't be lonely. Talk to your children more. Ask about school not only the banal: “How are you?” Ask what he likes at school, what teachers, children, who the child is friends with. If he is not friends with anyone, why, what are the reasons for this.
Never blame your children for your problems, do not get into your soul by asking sensitive questions about love and sex, for example. Everything needs to be done tactfully so that the teenager does not suspect that you are following him, otherwise he may even leave home.
From kindergarten we teach our children not to communicate with strangers, not to go anywhere with them. Likewise, adult children need to be taught:
- do not communicate online with strangers;
- add as friends only those you know personally;
- do not disclose your information or place of residence.
At the age of 13-15, an important role for a child is played by his peer environment, in which he wants to stand out. The child tries to do something that was previously prohibited.
Children often experience mental pain, despondency, and despair. Not everything always works out well in the team or at school. Children want advice from their parents on what to do in certain situations. But it happens that pride does not allow you to do this. Anger, resentment, and irritation appear.
Talk to your children more often, look at your child’s state of mind, and find out. what's the problem. Feel free to go to school and talk to the teacher. It will tell you a lot about your child if there is a problem. Talk to a psychologist, let him advise. what can be done.
It can be very difficult to talk to teenagers. They may not listen to you, slam the door and leave. When emotions cool down, talk, offer your help, give advice. If a child sees a friendly attitude towards him, he will be more willing to engage in dialogue.
The most important thing is that the child should not feel lonely. If a teenager cannot find a place for himself in his chosen environment, he is not accepted into the company of his peers, he is abandoned by a loved one, he may enter a state of depression. And such people are easier to manage
It is important not to lose contact with your son or daughter during adolescence.
The child should feel your love, know that he can come to his mom or dad with his problems, they will listen to him and help him, and not look for strangers on the Internet.
Today I touched on an important topic: what dangers may lie in wait for our children and grandchildren on social networks. Be attentive to your children!
Write your comments, share information with your friends. Children are our happiness, our future. Let's protect them from the terrible influence of dangerous groups on social networks.
Best regards, Olga.
“Young Lawyers of Russia” (YLR) checked the social network “VKontakte” for communities that are potentially dangerous for children and adolescents. They provided the results of their work to RT. Social activists analyzed groups with more than 100 thousand subscribers.
In 36% of publications, lawyers say they found “calls for violence.” In their opinion, these online publics may fall under Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Inciting hatred or enmity.” Last year, 181 cases were considered at the federal level under this article.
In addition, social activists discovered that more than half of the posts of popular VKontakte communities contain obscene language.
The actively discussed topic of “calls to suicide,” on the contrary, was identified in only 1.5% of publications, including so-called near-suicidal materials. They do not directly call for suicide, but, for example, they use expressions such as “I am your curator,” “blue whale,” and so on. These words refer to a dangerous game that is gaining popularity among teenagers. It has spread on social networks and involves performing tasks that can threaten life.
Some groups publish pornographic materials, romanticize the criminal lifestyle, and promote the use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
The most dangerous
“Based on the results of the work, a list of the most dangerous communities was compiled. Among them, lawyers included “Clear Jokes” (8,457,634 users), “MDK” (7,736,071), “Killer Humor” (6,312,167), “BORSCH” (5,659,523), “Eaglet” (2,417 861), “Institute of Noble Maidens” (3,287,835) and others,” according to the MJR document provided by RT.
Lawyers sent an official appeal to the head of Roskomnadzor, Alexander Zharov, with a request to check these public pages. Roskomnadzor press secretary Vadim Ampelonsky said that “a letter from Young Lawyers has been received.” “Experts analyze the content of those communities about which complaints have been received. There is no conclusion yet,” he said.
Triple protection
VKontakte press secretary Evgeny Krasnikov said that the company would not comment on the Young Lawyers of Russia study. He told RT what protection against illegal content is currently in place on the social network.
“Firstly, we regularly conduct our own monitoring of the site. Secondly, we receive signals from the market regulator - Roskomnadzor. And finally, our users have the opportunity to complain about any type of information posted on VKontakte: photo, video, text, public page, page of a specific person. Each such complaint is reviewed by our moderators. They have enough competence and experience to figure out whether this is dangerous content,” says Krasnikov.
Attention to detail
Alexey Kovalev, head of the educational projects department of Young Lawyers of Russia, member of Rosobrnadzor, told RT that the main goal of this monitoring is to draw public attention to the danger of most online content.
- Lucélia Ribeiro/flickr.com
“This project does not have the goal of closing any VKontakte groups.” Much more important is that lawyers attract the attention of large government agencies to an urgent problem. I believe that teenagers and young people need to create more positive content that will help them develop in the right direction,” adds Kovalev.
“Young Lawyers of Russia” noted that they recently began monitoring Odnoklassniki. And very soon data will appear on the number of “dangerous” groups in this social network.
Scandalous "MDK"
MDK is one of the three most dangerous groups, according to the lawyers who conducted the study. At the same time, this is one of the most popular public pages of the VKontakte network. It contains mostly humorous pictures and jokes, often with obscene content.
MDK CEO Roberto Panchvidze told RT that the group does not violate the law. He also sees no point in monitoring social network groups.
“We obey the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and fully comply with it. Our publications do not contain dangerous information. If online communities call on users to take life-threatening actions, VKontakte simply blocks them. Therefore, there is no need to additionally control the content,” says Panchvidze.
And obscene language on the Internet is, according to him, quite common, since “the Internet is not a public place, and it is inappropriate to prohibit the use of obscenities here.”
Let us recall that in 2015 the court decided to block the “MDK” page after checking the community by employees of the St. Petersburg Herzen University. It was found that the materials published there offend the feelings of believers. The court made a decision to liquidate the group. Then the Sarafanka company, the owner of the public, tried to challenge the experts’ conclusion. Litigation continues to this day. In 2016, Roskomnadzor blocked “MDK”, after which a new page with the same name was created.
It is more useful to promote a culture of communication
Rambler & Co Director of External Communications Matvey Alekseev believes that the study of “Young Lawyers of Russia” is pointless.
“Everyone already knows that there are dangerous groups on social networks. They are already being fought. In my opinion, the activities of the MJR would be much more useful if they worked with young people: they promoted a culture of communication, campaigned for a healthy lifestyle. This is much better than just searching for something forbidden,” Alekseev explained.
He also thinks it's very stupid to point out the presence of profanity online.
“Recently there was a proposal to equate swearing with cultural heritage. We have already discussed the issue of banning it on the Internet at the State Duma site. Then we were able to explain that it is simply impossible to block such language on a social network,” the expert said.
Forbidden fruit
Psychologist, Candidate of Medical Sciences Oleg Bely told RT that it is useless to fight communities that promote violence and the use of obscene language.
“How to treat society from such dangerous groups on social networks? I think this question is equivalent to the following: how to cure gangrene with a plaster? No way. The problem with the popularity of such public pages is that young people are looking there to satisfy their interests and leisure. “Anything that has a mysterious, threatening character is especially attractive to teenagers,” says the doctor.
- Ren Rebadomia/flickr.com
In his opinion, children often turn to such communities due to lack of attention from their parents.
“Many mothers and fathers think that they work, bring home money, provide for the family, and devoting time to their child is not at all necessary. As a result, their children are looking for ways to have fun online,” says Bely.
Vitaly Pashin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, agrees that adults should be more attentive to the younger generation.
“Parents need to monitor what their children are looking for on the Internet and what online communities they visit. Moreover, it is necessary to link VKontakte groups to a specific individual. Public registration must take place officially, using a citizen’s passport. A person must understand that he may be held responsible for unwanted content,” the deputy asserts.
Deadly games have appeared on social networks. The organizers of these games are leading teenagers and children to commit suicide. Some professional psychiatrists stated that this could not be true. Other figures - guardians of freedom - said that this was a provocation, a special hoax to limit Internet freedom in Russia. To our horror, it turned out that teenagers and children are actually involved in this devilish game and are committing suicide. The motives of the organizers are not yet clear. But these are, of course, extremely dangerous people. These are maniacs.
Suicide is still a largely mysterious phenomenon. Previously, it was explained rather by pathology, mental disorders. Later they began to talk about suicide as a social phenomenon.
Here are the statistics of suicides in our country over the past 30 years. The graph shows the number of suicides per hundred thousand people. You see a rise in the 90s, but since the early 2000s the number of suicides has been steadily declining. And if in 1992 46 out of one hundred thousand people committed suicide. Then in 2016 there were 16 people. The decrease is almost threefold.
Then in the 90s, millions of people lost the purpose of their activities. They were confused, they didn't know what to do. The old social and government structures have collapsed. Everyday life itself, the one to which people are accustomed, has become completely different. And many did not find themselves in this new life. And someone decided to leave this life. Hence the rise in the number of suicides.
There are fewer suicides now. But there should be no dizziness from success here. The figure of 16 suicides per 100,000 people is still a lot. The norm, if we can talk about the norm here at all, is significantly less than ten.
Behind each story is the cut short of the life of very young boys and girls who played a terrible game with death. Tomorrow at 4:20 am you will receive your first assignment. But look, if I don't see that you read my message right away, you'll be removed from the game. I wish you a speedy death, my whale.
Scientists have not yet figured out why whales wash ashore - but the authors of so-called death groups on social networks have turned this mystery into a terrible suicide conveyor belt. A series of tasks from a harmless, at first glance, picture on the hand to the very last step in life under the guidance of an invisible curator - the count of children's deaths is open and does not stop.
Irkutsk This week, classmates Yulia and Nika stepped from the 12th floor - on Yulia’s social network page there are still the same whales and the last entry: “I broke all records.” The girls were 15 years old. And no one noticed anything suspicious - only now Niki’s younger brother remembers: she once mentioned the game and showed the video online.
I managed to warn Nick's brothers. It probably seemed to her that there was no going back. This is exactly how the system works.
Angelina died in December 2015, also jumping from a height. The girl was in seventh grade. Her mother, too, did not notice anything unusual until the very end, but after her daughter’s death she decided to figure out why a seemingly happy child suddenly took her own life and she herself registered in the death group, completing the tasks of the curators one after another.
“I remembered that my child once showed me his hand, not long ago, she had some scratches on her hands. No, not deep cuts, just scratches. My question is: what is this and why? It was she who said that this is a cat, this is our beloved cat. Cat, yes, there really is. And I believed it. But then, when I went through all these stages, yes, they give us similar instructions that if mom suddenly sees, you say that the cat scratched you, that it’s okay. This is real murder. It is murder through such skillful manipulations,” says Elena Davydova.
To counter such manipulations, Elena, together with other parents, opened a center for saving children from cybercrimes; she says that they have already managed to help many escape the deadly game. And everyone who was saved either by volunteers or police officers then tells their story of missions that almost cost their lives.
“The administrator of the group, on his own behalf, wrote all sorts of instructions regarding life and death, that after death it will be better, why live, why suffer. He told me to throw myself off the roof or open my veins on such and such a date at such and such a time,” says the girl.
Curators also often ask players to find someone who will film a suicide on a smartphone - the so-called shock content is at a premium on certain sites. And those who at the last moment refuse to take their own lives are threatened with reprisals against their families.
“In general, we call this nothing more than a terrorist attack. Because why blow something up if they’re going to jump off the roofs themselves?” - says the chairman of the “Emergency Youth Aid” movement Anton Androsov.
Anton and his friends began their hunt for hunters of children's souls. Volunteers create fake accounts and join death groups in order to warn those who find themselves there and pass information about the organizers to the police. The system works - but there are problems with the punishment for incitement to suicide, says Anton.
“There is a gap in the legislation. Article 110 of the Criminal Code says that only violent prosecution with a note that there was also intent. If they put a gun to your head and said, “Hang yourself,” then there will be something for it. There is nothing for promoting suicide, non-violent incitement - there is nothing,” says Anton Androsov, chairman of the “Emergency Youth Aid” movement.
The lawyers of Philip Budeikin, his online nickname Philip Lis, will probably take advantage of this. Investigators call him the curator of the deadly game and believe that he drove 15 teenagers to suicide. A few days before the arrest, the publication Sankt-Peterburg.ru published an interview with Budeikin, in which he gave a terrible answer to the question on the record - why.
“The planet simply doesn’t need this bio-waste. This is unnecessary biomass. It spoils the world and the environment,” said Philip Budeikin.
Little is known about Fox himself; journalists wrote: he was 21 years old, lived in Ukhta, then moved to Solnechnogorsk, and seemed secretive and uncommunicative to his acquaintances. It hardly looks like a collective image of a maniac, but Budeikin is not the only administrator, there are others. And the motive, psychologists say, is different for everyone.
“The motivation, I think, is different for these administrators, there are sociopaths, there are sadists who look at what will happen and who manipulate our children. These could be completely ordinary people, neighbors in your stairwell. You don’t know what they do in the evening while surfing the Internet, do you? Therefore, from the point of view of manifestation in everyday life, these people may be no different from you and me,” notes psychologist Elena Feigin.
And at the same time bring death. But their intent - to take the life of a child - still needs to be proven, and even in this case the maximum sentence is three years. This legislative gap has long been noticed in the office of the Commissioner for Children's Rights.
“We came up with an initiative to tighten punishment for calls for suicide, including through social networks. And this bill has already been developed and is in the cabinet of ministers, in the government. That is, we expect that it will be adopted in the near future. These are the norms of a legislative nature that must inevitably be adopted; they will help to actually find these people who are engaged in this activity and there should be subsequent punishment,” said Anna Kuznetsova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights under the President of the Russian Federation.
Severe punishment, however, is only part of the fight against the new virtual evil. The social network VKontakte, where, in fact, the first death groups appeared, blocks more and more new pages every day, both on the instructions of Roskomnadzor and as a result of its monitoring, but there is another effective way.
“The most important vector in this fight is our own users, whom we actively encourage to complain about any type of content posted on the social network. They have the opportunity to send a complaint about a photograph, video text - in general, about any thing. Recently, we have also added calls for suicide to the list of complaints. This allows our moderators to respond to this even more quickly and make appropriate decisions about blocking this or that content,” says Evgeniy Krasnikov, press secretary of the VKontakte social network.
And if you publish one of the popular hashtags of the deadly game on your page, your account will be temporarily blocked and you will be offered a list of questions, the answer to some of which will automatically redirect you to the website of the psychological assistance center.
No one talks on the phone here - a feature of the work of the “Your Territory” foundation. After all, teenagers are used to communicating in chat rooms - such help is closer to them. And not only for those who have been drawn into yet another suicide group, because danger can lurk even in a seemingly harmless children’s game.
A video review based on an episode of the popular game “Minecraft” ends with the suicide of a character named Alena, and before that, for several days on the page of the author of the video there was a heated discussion about what to do with this Alena - to forgive or not. And, despite the survey results, the author decided not to forgive - the result is known. Whether this can be considered suicide propaganda is a question for lawyers, but while playing on this platform open to creativity, ten-year-old Artem met a certain girl in a chat, followed by nightly correspondence and mysterious calls, after which, the mother says, her son was replaced.
“He ran away from the tutor, a Russian language teacher comes to us, at the same time always, he knows this very well, he always fulfills her assignments accurately. Grandma already wanted to go to the police, almost write a statement, he wasn’t at school. And then he came as if nothing had happened and said: “I went to the cinema.” It’s as if this is not my child, but some kind of complex teenager,” says the mother.
Artyom himself noticed that something was happening to him. Grandmother and mother suddenly seemed angry, and the younger sister was too noisy. The mother decided to take her son to a psychologist and now promises to spend more time with the children. This, experts are sure, is the best way not to miss the moment. They also advise not to remain silent about the problem, but, on the contrary, to talk as much as possible. This is what the guys from Yekaterinburg did, filming a series about suicidal children - in it all the troubles of teenagers through their own eyes and the search for a way out.
And this way out is not to step into the void. And a beached whale is actually a mountain of rotting flesh and no romance. This is worth remembering for those to whom games with death seem like a mysterious adventure.
Law enforcement agencies took up the organizers of the terrible games, these maniacs. There are already suspects, one has been detained. Society should be absolutely intolerant of these scoundrels. We support the investigation. And legislators need to think about adjusting the punishment under the article on incitement to suicide. Today this punishment does not scare anyone.
