The Judicial Police is investigating four cases in the country and trying to determine if there is an adult market behind the dealers of the game.
The evidence in the four cases of adolescents, who were hospitalized after self-mutilation in meeting challenges of the Blue Whale game are being gathered by the PJ sections of Setúbal, Portalegre, Faro and Porto, in contact with the inspectors of the National Computer Crime Unit (Unc3t). The objective is “to collect evidence and monitor this at the National Computer Crime Unit,” Carlos Cabreiro, director of UNC3T,
The Judiciary will try to follow the track of the game curators to see if there are Portuguese involved or if the orders come from within the country.
“The Whale game reminds us of a process of radicalization, it is pure manipulation, it reminds us of paedophiles on the internet who collect images of children, are abnormal individuals who take this information in a way of setting tasks they call challenges, with threats, “says Carlos Cabreiro. He said that “there may be an adult market here to take advantage of this in some way.” And the healers of the game are clearly interested in the whole media wave around it. “It is intended that the dissemination be massive for adolescents and young adults to join.
The Judiciary Police is “very worried” about the spread of the game on the Internet, especially when yesterday was the fourth victim of the challenges of the Blue Whale in Portugal: a 15-year-old girl from Porto, who is hospitalized in the Hospital de S. John on Tuesday night with injuries to his arm and chest.