The "Blue Whale challenge" was reported to be an online "suicide game" aimed at teenager's which set 50 tasks over 50 days. The challenge was alleged to be linked to numerous deaths around the world. But little about the "game" was quite as it seemed.
The first tasks were fairly innocuous: "Wake up in the middle of the night" or "Watch a scary film". But day by day, the tasks grew more sinister.
"Stand on the ledge of a tower block."
The final challenge? A demand that the user kill themselves.
The challenge was alleged to have started in Russia, but reports of it soon spread to other countries: Ukraine, India and the United States.
Hundreds of deaths reported to be linked to the so-called "suicide game".
But closer investigation has revealed something curious. The game, at least as it was initially reported, doesn't seem to have existed at all.
"Cut a whale into your arm."
Origin story
The story of the Blue Whale challenge began with Rina Palenkova.
On 22 November 2015, Rina, a teenager living in south-eastern Russia, posted a selfie.
In the photo, she is standing outside. A black scarf is wrapped around her mouth and nose. She is sticking her middle finger up at the camera. It looks like it's covered in dried blood.
The photo's caption read. The next day, she took her own life.
Rina Palenkova's death discussed in a certain type of chat room hosted by Russia's largest social network VKontakte. These forums were places where teenagers met to talk about everyday things like school and which classmates they fancied, as well as darker subject : depression, loneliness and suicide.
Scary stories exchange. The spookiness of these stories came from how real they seemed, something often achieved through fake pictures or doctored footage.
It is the online equivalent of the claim made by classic horror films that they are "based on true events". Because at the heart of any good ghost story is a sliver of plausibility.
It was in these groups, where the line between fact and fiction was often blurred, that users posted feverishly about Rina. In some instances, they lauded her for ending her life. Videos purporting to be her final moments posted online.
But amid the rumors, there was a problem.
"Nobody actually knew the true story behind her suicide," says Daria Radchenko, a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration who has looked into the so-called Blue Whale challenge.
And shortly thereafter, Rina's story merged with other stories of teenage suicide.
On Christmas Day 2015, 12-year-old Angelina Davydova killed herself in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. A little over a fortnight later, so did Diana Kuznetsova, a teenager from the same city.
When the parents examined the online accounts left behind by their daughters, they found something curious - the two girls were part of similar online groups.
In these groups were drawings of Rina Palenkova, posts about suicide and numerous mentions of blue whales. And shortly thereafter, Rina's story merged with other stories of teenage suicide.
On Christmas Day 2015, 12-year-old Angelina Davydova killed herself in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. A little over a fortnight later, so did Diana Kuznetsova, a teenager from the same city.
When the parents examined the online accounts left behind by their daughters, they found something curious - the two girls were part of similar online groups.
In these groups were drawings of Rina Palenkova, posts about suicide and numerous mentions of blue whales.
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