Heartbreaking footage posted to Facebook shows a mother consoling her two young children after they saw a video of 'Momo' on YouTube.
Momo has made fresh headlines worldwide in the past few days, after rumours circulated that a character was appearing during YouTube videos and threatening to kill children and their families.
It has since been reported by many media organisations that the true threat of Momo was exaggerated, but many are still scared by the haunting images and messages that children are seeing.
Caiarama Ashby is a Kiwi mother whose five-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son were both terrified when halfway through a video on YouTube, Momo appeared saying she would "kill [their] parents tonight."
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"My son was pleading to move houses, for his dad to pick our house up with his digger and move it to another country or she will come find us and kill us," she explained in a Facebook post.
She said after speaking to her kids about it, her son "burst out in tears" and yelled "stop saying her name, now we're going to be killed."
Ms Ashby warned other parents to be wary of the character, saying although it might be a fake threat, it has "real effects on our children".
"Please parents, sit down and have a quick chat to your child about this as they might feel like they have to keep it a secret to keep us safe," she wrote on Facebook.
"No child should ever feel the need to protect us when we should be the ones making them feel safe, loved and protected at all times."
Ms Ashby's post has since gone viral, with 1.8 million views on the video already. Commenters are thanking Ms Ashby for bringing the videos to their attention.
"Thank you for sharing your story and video with us, now we are more aware to watch over our kids using gadgets," says one.
Another says she has talked with her nieces and nephews about using the internet since watching Ms Ashby's video.
"Your post was the one that moved me to make sure my friends with kids knew about it and spoke to my nephews and nieces about it," said another.
Newshub.
