Netflix is urging viewers worldwide not to take part in a viral internet challenge inspired by a hit new horror film on the streaming service.
She and her two children, known only as Boy and Girl, are forced to navigate difficult terrain while unable to see - a challenge now being emulated by legions of fans, reports regional news site BirminghamLive.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The internet has been flooded with videos showing people going about their everyday lives while wearing blindfolds for the so-called Bird Box challenge.
As NME notes, “the majority of videos end in harmless embarrassment”. But there have also been injuries, “with people running into walls or dangerously close to traffic”, says BirminghamLive.
One video appears to show “a man with his child and toddler all blindfolded - it ultimately leads into the toddler running full-on head-first into a wall”, reports LADbible.
“So far there are no reports of anyone being hospitalised due to activities undertaken as part of the internet craze, but in the past other crazes have caused people to need serious medical attention,” adds the social media-based news site.
In a bid to prevent such mishaps, Netflix has tweeted a message pleading with fans not to attempt the challenge.
Bird Box was watched by 45 million Netflix subscriber accounts in the first week following the film’s release in December, the biggest opening for any movie in the streaming site’s 12-year history.
-
The environmental cost of GLP-1sThe explainer Producing the drugs is a dirty process
-
Greenland’s capital becomes ground zero for the country’s diplomatic straitsIN THE SPOTLIGHT A flurry of new consular activity in Nuuk shows how important Greenland has become to Europeans’ anxiety about American imperialism
-
‘This is something that happens all too often’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
