The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.27 The "Momo Challenge" Is a Panicky Hoax Preying On Ignorant Parents, India Pakistan, & More

Episode Date: February 27, 2019

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Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Wednesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we are going to talk about today is this story and the panic around it that has blown up around this so-called Momo Challenge. And I'm gonna let you know right at the beginning so there is no confusion, a big chunk of this story involves a hoax, a lot of the panic around this situation is being fueled by headline readers and people only seeing one thing, not diving deeper, and a large chunk of the media that is completely willing to get clicks off of this panic. But the main point of the story should be no matter what,

if you are a parent to a young child, you should be monitoring what they are consuming online. There are bad actors, there are things that slip through, and you are the person enabling that child to access it. But all of that said, let's start at the beginning. So what exactly is the Momo Challenge? And understand here, we're gonna be explaining what people have been saying the story is. So Momo, according to the it, but all of that said, let's start at the beginning. So what exactly is the Momo Challenge? And understand here, we're gonna be explaining what people have been saying the story is.

So Momo, according to the story, is this figure that can be contacted via WhatsApp and it appears with this really creepy image. Also on that note, that image is actually of a statue made by a Japanese artist, although it's unclear how that image became attached to the Momo Challenge. But according to this story that was being spread around,

people, most commonly teens and children, can reach Momo by texting a certain number on WhatsApp. The story saying most people don't get a response from the number, but if you did, it would start to send creepy messages implying it knows personal information about you. And the story then went on to say that Momo would ask the texter to do dangerous or violent things,

including self-harm and to send photographic proof. Also allegedly ending with Momo asking the texter to commit suicide and record proof. Now if this sounds familiar, it's because this challenge, which it was being called, became popular last July when it was deemed a hoax. And a big part of the reason this blew up was that it became popular for people to post YouTube videos

of them allegedly interacting with Momo. But one of the most interesting videos on this topic was made by Rainbot, a YouTuber who commonly explores creepy trends. And she found that of the three numbers people commonly associated with Momo, one was Japanese, one was Mexican, and one was Colombian. But despite location, she said that even the Japanese number, which was the most popular, could communicate in Spanish, which made it very common in Spanish-speaking countries.

But she ultimately chalked Momo up to being more of a viral urban legend than anything else, as it's hard to find real screenshots of interactions with Momo. Also with this story, something commonly referenced is a situation in Argentina. Back in August of last year, police in Argentina investigated whether or not Momo had anything to do with the suicide of a 12 year old girl. But the big thing there is that authorities never confirmed any link. Another thing that was mentioned, Momo was also reported to be tied to the deaths

of two people in India and two children in Colombia. But, Momo's links to these deaths were also never definitely proven. Also more recently, we had the BBC reporting that hackers could be behind Momo, specifically using it to get texters information, but that has not been confirmed either. And so all of that brings us to today,

where this so-called Momo challenge is seeing a second wave of popularity. People have been reporting that clips of Momo are in videos on YouTube and YouTube Kids, specifically videos that appear to be Fortnite videos or episodes of Peppa Pig. And according to the story around this new wave, the thumbnail for these videos appears to be safe

and will begin with kid-friendly content, but partway through, clips of the Momo challenge and other disturbing images will show up and according to the people claiming that this is real The images can be gory violent threatening and leave children terrified. It was a Facebook post I went viral warning parents about this also understand that I'm reiterating I'm covering what people are saying and then trying to spread the reality of the situation I mean this has become such a big thing that YouTube has even had to go to its official Twitter account to say, "'We want to clear something up "'regarding the Momo Challenge.

"'We've seen no recent evidence "'of videos promoting the Momo Challenge on YouTube.' "'And hitting like they always do, "'videos encouraging harmful and dangerous challenges "'are against our policies.'" Then encouraging people that if they do end up coming across content like this in the future to actually flag it.

Also regarding this story, there are actually two stories and some people are combining the two. There's this and there's also been a recent controversy where YouTube and YouTube Kids videos appear Also regarding this story, there are actually two stories and some people are combining the two. There's this and there's also been a recent controversy where YouTube and YouTube kids videos appear to have instructions on how to self-harm. But also looking at those reports, the examples that they're providing involve an unrelated Filthy Frank video being spliced into a different piece of content. That said, YouTube has been actively combating these things on both fronts, although right now it's not really clear if these two things are connected. Also with this story, schools and police worldwide have been responding to this issue. You have the police of Northern Ireland saying on Facebook,

"'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.'" Yesterday, a YouTube spokesperson gave a statement to CBS saying, "'Our community guidelines prohibit harmful "'and dangerous challenges, challenges including promoting the Momo challenge

And we remove this content quickly when flagged to us But still while bad actors and trolls were being cracked down on actively by YouTube while more and more became apparent that this was a hoax People continue to spread this story including people with massive audiences like Kim Kardashian She shared both a screenshot of the viral post as well as the text message of being informed about it And so with all of that kind of explained, once again, I want to reiterate. A big chunk of this is a hoax that has popped up once again, in part because of panicked people, as well as bad actors hoping to troll and freak people out. You have panicked parents, people in the news, people at schools, police!

Warning people, based off of reports that have not been verified. And so really where I want to end this story, there's a few notes here. One, like often with viral situations like this, things like this start with a kernel of truth. There is no doubt that there are bad actors out there trying to troll or harass or cyber bully children or just mess with the status quo. But the wave of headline reading,

insert myself into the story as the hero for raising awareness without looking into the situation further is crazy. I understand that you can get more views and for some organizations more money or fake internet points that make you feel good about yourself if you continue to fear mongering or you spread this thing or you're like the hero

of the story rather than being the calming voice that explains that this is being blown out of proportion. But I really wanna use this story as an example of when you see something like this, dive further, fact check. Two, you should be monitoring the content that your child consumes. YouTube or YouTube Kids or any other service is not a replacement for a parent. If you're a parent, you have one to, I don't know, twelve kids?

My friends growing up had Catholic families, so I don't know what the normal number of kids is. But you are responsible for them, and no algorithm that's trying to deal with an impossible scale is a replacement. Three, when you come across content like this, please please please report it Everyone wants to actively fight this content and understand when I say that I'm not calling you a bad parent I there was there was a great explanation as far as the difference in technology between a lot of parents my age or older and Their kids we and definitely people older than me are technological immigrants I got the internet in high school and people older than me got it when they were in college or after college those people Have kids and I mean you got kids as young as two with iPads in front of them

These kids are born into the technology of now whereas older parents They they might not know like that they can even report something that they can filter things what control they have so once again I'm not calling you a bad parent But you really need to educate yourself on how you can monitor and help your kid But also for there are people and kids that are dealing with cyberbullying or regular bullying or depression or whatever it is. If you or anyone you know is dealing with something like this, please know that there are resources out there to help you. Down below, I have the number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. Along with that, you can text TALK to 741741. That's for the Crisis Text Line.

And finally, five, please, please, please get the word out regarding what is actually happening with this story. I mean, there's no world where this video spreads as fast as the scary, scary viral post around it, but the truth should matter. We should try and get it out there. And really the more that the panic viral headline reader story is going out there, more likely it is that bad actors will embrace this thing

that really wasn't a thing beforehand to harass and scare. But yeah, ultimately that is where I'm going to end this story, of course, like with everything we talk about on the show, I pass the question off to you, what are your thoughts on everything? And then let's talk about some US politics, although, I know some of you were hoping that in this video

we had a complete breakdown of Michael Cohen speaking to Congress today, but I mean, that story's still happening as of finishing up this video. Regarding that, one, we'll definitely talk about it tomorrow, but two, even just seeing this at a surface level, it's gonna be interesting to dive into this and see the reaction in general. And I say that because, I mean, once again,

we're not diving into it today. One, Michael Cohen came out swinging. I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist, he is a con man, and he is a cheat. And two, we know that Michael Cohen submitted a series of documents, including what appears to be the $131,000 wire transfer to Stormy Daniels, checks that appear to be from Trump and Donald Trump Jr. to reimburse Cohen for illegal, quote, hush money, as well as a letter to Fordham demanding that they never release Trump's grades or SAT scores. So there's

that, but also one of the positives of taking a little time to make sure we cover it right is that we will most likely be able to see more reactions. But while we are mentioning US politics, we should definitely talk about an update to Tuesday morning's morning video. We talked about the just pure chaos that was happening in North Carolina's 9th district. If you have not watched that video, oh my gosh, watch it.

As far as the updates around it, Mark Harris, of course the Republican that was at the center of this story He announced that he will not be running in this new election citing health problems Which is of course a massive note since he used health problems as a reason for why he said something that was not actually true So there was that and then remember McCray Dallas this guy he has officially been indicted on several charges now and those charges include obstruction of justice conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and Possession of absentee ballots.

And that of course is all connected to him being at the center of this election fraud case. So it's gonna be really interesting to see the full fallout that comes from this situation. And the last thing we're gonna talk about today is everyone's favorite reality show, the escalating tensions between two nuclear powers. And on today's episode, we once again have Pakistan and India. And I say again because actually yesterday we talked about this escalating conflict, which is also probably one of the reasons we were demonetized and also content restricted. Fun times, but it's not going to stop us from actually talking about it.

And hell, given the other topic today, it's going to happen. Main point, if you're not completely up to speed, I'll link down below to yesterday's coverage. But where we left off is that I said we are going to have to wait and see if the tensions between these countries were going to escalate further. And today what we are seeing are reports that Pakistan shot down two Indian fighter jets near the disputed border in Kashmir, also known as the Line of Control. We also saw videos of what appeared to be a fiery crash

posted to Twitter, but on that note, we couldn't verify if they were of this specific incident or not, so if you do see them floating around the web, make sure they are coming from a reputable source. This is still a developing situation, so it's always something we have to consider, because the details of what led to the planes being shot down right now are unclear. According to a statement from the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

Pakistan attacked Indian quote, non-military target avoiding human loss and collateral damage. Also saying their attack was from within Pakistani airspace. Pakistani military officials claim that their Air Force hid supply depots belonging to the Indian Army and they also claim that India sent war planes into Pakistani airspace in response. And according to a tweet from a military spokesperson for Pakistan, in response to Pakistani Air Force strikes this morning as released by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Indian Air Force crossed line of control. Pakistani Air Force shot down two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistani airspace. One of the aircraft fell inside Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, while other fell inside Indian-controlled Kashmir. One Indian pilot arrested by troops on ground while two in the area and later clarifying our

ground forces arrested two pilots one of them was injured and has been shifted to CMH combined military hospital and God willing he will Be taken care of however This is where the reports get very confusing because he also tweeted there is only one pilot under Pakistan Army's custody wing commander Abhi Nandan is being treated as per norms of military ethics. But there was no further mention of the other pilot. However, just like yesterday, we are getting two conflicting versions of the story. In a statement posted today by India's Ministry of External Affairs, they claim to have only lost

one jet with just one pilot missing, adding that Pakistan has claimed to have the pilot in custody, but they are still looking into the facts of the situation. Additionally, India claimed that in the aerial engagement, one Pakistani plane was shot down and fell from the sky onto the Pakistani side of the situation. Additionally, India claimed that in the aerial engagement, one Pakistani plane was shot down and fell from the sky onto the Pakistani side of the LOC. Also in India's statement, they clarified the reason

for yesterday's attack, saying India had informed about counter-terrorism action it took yesterday against a training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan based on credible evidence that JEM intended to launch more attacks. Against this counter-terrorism action, Pakistan has responded this morning by using its air force to target military installations on the Indian side.

So essentially, they're asserting that India was targeting terrorist camps while Pakistan responded by attacking with the Indian military. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed this in a statement also released today. And speaking of the attack, they wrote, "'If India is striking its so-called terrorist backers

"'without a shred of evidence, "'we also retain reciprocal rights "'to retaliate against elements that enjoy Indian patronage while carrying out acts of terror in Pakistan. We do not wish to go that route and wish that India gives peace a chance and to resolve issues like a mature democratic nation."

With Pakistan adding that the, quote, "'Sole purpose of the strike being to demonstrate our right, will, and capability for self-defense. We have no intention of escalation, but are fully prepared to do so if forced into that paradigm." So with all of that said, when you have two very large countries, especially when you have nuclear powers fighting, the international community is also paying attention and they usually put out statements. And regarding this, we have seen many countries encouraging restraint from both parties.

In a press statement from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he wrote, I expressed to both ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid escalation at any cost. In a press statement from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo he wrote Additionally Pompeo added that when speaking to Pakistan's foreign minister He emphasized the priority of Pakistan taking action against terrorist groups operating on their soil And of a major note here is he called India's airstrike from yesterday counterterrorism action Which of course is incredibly important to the situation because this designation is clearly a point of contention on their soil. And of a major note here is he called India's airstrike from yesterday counter-terrorism action. Which of course is incredibly important to the situation because this designation is clearly a point of contention between the two countries.

Also we saw China, which neighbors the contested region, releasing a statement saying they hope that the two sides will bear in mind the peace and stability in the region, exercise restraint, and step up dialogue. And aside from countries, we also saw tweets just from people. Your everyday Joes and Janes, your activists, your journalists, actors, everyone,

people from all walks of life calling for a de-escalation with the hashtag say no to war gathering a lot of steam on Twitter. All that said, while peace is being encouraged by many different parties, the reality of the situation is that tensions are extremely high. You have planes being shot down. It's even led to Pakistan closing airways and airlines,

canceling many flights in the region. But as far as what happens from here, will we see a de-escalation? I mean, ultimately we're gonna have to wait and see, especially since the facts of what has happened the past few days have been heavily disputed by both sides. If two sides can't even line up on the reality of the situation,

then how do you go from there? But on that happy note, that's where we're going to leave it today. And of course, pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts regarding the situation? What do you think will happen? What do you hope to see happen? Any and all things I'd love to see in those comments down below. And that's where we're going to end today's show. Remember are your thoughts regarding this situation? What do you think will happen? What do you hope to see happen? Any and all things, I'd love to see

in those comments down below. And that's where we're going to end today's show. Remember, if you like this video, you like jumping into the news with us on the daily, let us know, hit that like button. Also, if you're new here, you wanna do it, be sure to hit subscribe, definitely click that bell to turn on notifications.

Also on the note, if you missed the last Philip DeFranco show, the last morning news deep dive, if you wanna catch up, click or tap right there to watch that. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco, you last morning news deep dive if you want to catch up click or tap right there to watch that but with that Said of course as always my name is Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in I love yo faces, and I'll see you tomorrow