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What is the Huggy Wuggy police warning?
It came from a police force in the United Kingdom, in Dorset, but Snopes, the fact-checking site, believes that the original report, which has circulated on TikTok and YouTube, is not entirely factual.
Huggy Wuggy is a horror character.
Here’s what you need to know:
A British News Site Quoted Concerned Parents
A reputable British news site called Sky News did publish a story about Huggy Wuggy. The story, which was dated April 5, 2022, notes, “Parents are being warned to be extra vigilant over seemingly fun videos that feature a menacing character with razor-sharp teeth.”
According to Sky News, the character “is from a survival horror game called Poppy Playtime,” and is featured in YouTube videos that “have seemingly slipped through parental controls.”
“Poppy Playtime first appeared on Steam and is made by indie developer MOB Games,” Sky News explained, noting that the videogame player is a “former employee who is revisiting an abandoned toy factory” after all of the staff there disappeared.
The character is terrifying some children. One mother has told Sky News “that her three-year-old tried to jump out of a window after seeing the videos,” the station reported.
The station reported that one school, West View Primary School in Hartlepool, expressed a concern to parents that Huggy Wuggy “sings worrying songs about hugging and killing”.
The school’s statement said, according to Sky News: “In one of the videos, the bear asks the viewer to take their last breath. It is a very deceiving character, as hugs should be seen as something kind and love and because of its name is able to infiltrate firewalls and filters.”
A spokesperson for YouTube told Sky News, “These videos are not available on YouTube Kids. Additionally, on YouTube Kids, all of our parental controls are free for parents to customise the experience for their children, enabling them to control what they can or cannot see. This includes the ability to handpick the content, choose content levels by age, to block content, and more.”
Snopes Called It an ‘Inflated Controversy’
The fact-checking site Snopes called the Huggy Wuggy scare an “inflated controversy.”
The headline reads, “Huggy Wuggy Police Warning Prompts Misleading Rumors About TikTok and YouTube Kids.”
The police angle comes from an April 1, 2022, article on Dorset Live that reads, “Dorset Police warning about Huggy Wuggy bear that is singing songs about killing.”
The article states, “The clips are getting through social media safety barriers because of their titles, however the reality of their contents is very distressing. Armed with sharp teeth, Huggy Wuggy bear is signing songs about hugging, and killing.”
The site quotes Dorset police as saying,
The blue bear-like character has long arms and rows of razor sharp teeth. Set in an abandoned toy factory, Huggy is a villain in the game who stalks the players from vents are unreachable places. Videos of the game are available to watch on YouTube, with other clips dedicated to Huggy in songs. One song includes the lyrics ‘I could hug you here forever, till you breathe your last breath together.’
Dorset Live quotes Chris Conroy, cyber protect officer for Dorset Police, as saying, “There are videos people have made, songs people have made, and it’s popping up all over YouTube and Tik Tok using this quite graphic imagery of this bear-like character with razor sharp teeth. It’s based around jump scares and things you certainly wouldn’t want children exposed to.”
Snopes investigated and found it was true that some parents in the UK had reported that their children were “reciting phrases from unofficial online videos that featured Huggy Wuggy. One story told of a child who tried to jump out of a window after watching the videos.”
Snopes was unable to confirm that the videos were available through YouTube Kids or TikTok for Younger Users. According to Snopes, Huggy Wuggy “does not sing songs in ‘Poppy Playtime,’ nor did MOB Games create official videos of the character singing.” One song referenced in connection with the controversy was made by a fan, according to Snopes.
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