Jonathan Galindo first came into prominence in 2020 for his involvement with an unsettling online craze that encouraged participants to engage in dangerous tasks that ultimately led to self-harm and teenage deaths. But who was this mysterious individual?
Accounts under this name have been targeting children on social media with requests to play a horror game that requires them to complete 50 steps that culminate in self-harm or suicide.
The Game
Jonathan Galindo was a character used in an online challenge that encouraged self-harm and suicide. Wearing a dog mask, this character would contact vulnerable people on social media platforms and ask them to complete various tasks, from watching horror films all the way through to standing at an edge of a building or self-harm.
After the death of 11-year-old Jonathan Galindo was linked to the Blue Whale Challenge, his name became an online trending topic and used by hackers and cybercriminals as a baiting point to exploit vulnerable people on Instagram and other platforms.
Samuel Canini has spoken out against those who use his character, Samuel Canini, to intimidate others online. He maintains the persona was originally created for his own quirky amusement nearly 10 years ago and shouldn’t be exploited to bully or scare people online today.
The Persona
Jonathan Galindo is an intimidating persona that appears online as an intimidating dog wearing a hood, encouraging teens to participate in dangerous challenges that have resulted in multiple deaths globally. This terrifying presence is known to encourage teenagers into undertaking dangerous challenges that involve swimming against currents or whales and has been associated with Blue Whale Challenge and several related deaths worldwide.
The Blue Whale Challenge involves players undertaking a series of tasks over 50 days, starting out relatively harmless but progressing to more dangerous activities like self-harm and perching on buildings’ edges. Its final step appears to be encouraging participants to commit suicide.
Although its purpose remains unclear, Jonathan Galindo may have been created in order to recreate Momo’s popularity and entice teenagers into taking part in the Blue Whale Challenge. A number of accounts that appear to belong to Jonathan are spreading information on Tiktok, Instagram, and Twitter with messages inviting teens to play the game alongside him.
The Challenge
Children and teenagers alike have reported receiving messages purporting to come from an account associated with Jonathan Galindo or its variant, Blue Whale Challenge. This ‘game’ involves completing tasks which lead to self-harm or even suicide attempts by participants; its influence has been linked with several teenage deaths yet no details on its inner workings have ever been provided by its creators or backers.
Jonathan Galindo may have been created by hackers or cybercriminals who use his persona to lure vulnerable children and teenagers into engaging in risky behaviors that could put themselves or others at risk. Parents have been advised to monitor their children’s social media accounts closely, seek psychological counseling when necessary and report any suspicious activity to authorities immediately.
While looking sinister-looking, the original Goofy was actually designed by makeup artist Samuel Canini for use in film projects; his mask has since become known as Dusky Sam on the internet. Samuel denies any association with online ‘game’ accounts bearing his name or image and advises people to report any accounts with these names or images on them.
The Dog Mask
Given wildfire smoke’s negative impacts on air quality in many western states, more pet parents are asking themselves whether their dogs should wear masks to shield against its effects of inhalation. Others even speculate if one may offer respiratory protection during walks in smokey environments.
Cursed Goofy made headlines in 2020 for reviving the Blue Whale Challenge. Reportedly contacting teenagers via social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter to offer them a game with steps leading them down an alleged path toward suicide, the Cursed Goofy has garnered considerable notoriety since.
Samuel Canini (also known as Dusky Sam), who created this character online, used an eerie dog mask as part of his online persona. It combines round black nose, massive human grin, and long black dog ears into an unnerving image. This piece can be traced back to him.