Jonathan Galindo – The Man Behind the Blue Whale Challenge

Jonathan Galindo has been linked with the Blue Whale Challenge – an online challenge which features tasks that initially appear harmless but gradually become riskier and ultimately require players to commit self-harm or perch on a tall building’s edge.

Jonathan Galindo-inspired accounts have recently surfaced online and reportedly messaging children to encourage them to participate in his game. Who is behind his revival and why did they do it?

Origins

Jonathan Galindo is a persona that has become notorious for inducing others to participate in an illegal internet challenge known as Blue Whale, which encourages participants to perform tasks over 50 days leading up to self-harm and suicide. According to reports, Jonathan was likely used by someone suffering from pedophilia or mental health issues who used social media sites like Facebook Messenger to lure young people into this deadly game.

Jonathan Galindo remains unknown, though it is suspected to be an American army veteran based on their recent appearance on Tiktok (@jonathangalindo54) this autumn.

Accounts under this name contacted children and encouraged them to participate in the Blue Whale Challenge, allegedly leading them to suicide. It appears to have originated on Spanish-language internet and then spread through English-speaking networks.

Messages

Since the death of a boy in Italy, many have raised alarm that an online game posing a grave risk is back. A terrifying figure wearing a dog mask has been encouraging children to perform dangerous acts including self-harm and suicide; Jonathan Galindo may have revived the Blue Whale Challenge.

Similar to Blue Whale, the new game starts by asking children to complete harmless tasks such as “wake up in the middle of the night” and “watch a scary film.” As users progress in their challenge, more risky acts like standing on an edge of building are encouraged as well as eventually committing suicide as their final task.

Accounts purporting to be Jonathan Galindo have been popping up on Twitter and TikTok, trying to attract children by offering games allegedly developed by this figure. According to reports, some accounts claiming this identity have also threatened doxxing their victims should they fail to play along.

Threats

Jonathan Galindo is an online persona known for being associated with the Blue Whale Challenge, a harmful game allegedly designed to encourage self-harm and suicide among teens. To participate, participants are required to complete 50 days of tasks ranging from watching horror videos to cutting themselves with blades; it has since been linked with several suicides worldwide.

Galindo, commonly referred to as Cursed Goofy on Instagram and TikTok, often reaches out to children and teens asking them to participate in his Blue Whale Challenge and threatening to doxx their personal information if they refuse.

Remind children and teens that not everyone on the internet is who they claim they are, and to always remain wary of strangers online who claim they know them, never giving out personal data, etc. It is also vitally important that any suspicious activities are reported immediately; one effective way of protecting against Jonathan Galindo-style predators such as this persona would be talking regularly about online safety with them and reminding them it can be easy for people to hide behind fake profiles.

Suicide

An 11-year-old Italian boy may have taken his own life due to an online challenge known as Blue Whale Challenge, a series of tasks which lead to self-harm or suicide and run by an anonymous mentor who contacts players through messaging apps.

Blue Whale Challenge, reported to be an increasingly dangerous trend since 2016, remains linked with teenage deaths but is yet to be established as such.

This recent wave of deadly games may be linked to Jonathan Galindo, a masked individual known for contacting children through social media and offering them dangerous games. According to reports, Jonathan contacted children via social media with threats against them as well as offering deadly game scenarios.

TikTok user Jonathan Galindo54 is thought to be hiding behind this mask and is believed to have thousands, possibly millions, of followers; however, due to community standards on TikTok it does not display his profile or reveal any details about him.