Dubai Police Warn Against Deadly Social Media Trends

Dubai, United Arab Emirates– 16 December 2025: Dubai Police have issued a strong warning to parents, teenagers, and young people about the growing spread of so-called deadly challenges on social media platforms, which pose a serious threat to lives.

These challenges, often promoted as online trends, involve extremely dangerous behaviours among children and adolescents. They include acts such as skull breaking, choking, breath holding, and other reckless practices that can lead to severe injuries or death.

Dubai Police explained that these challenges often attract teenagers seeking excitement or online attention, without fully understanding the serious consequences. Similar challenges in other countries have already resulted in critical injuries and fatalities.

The force stressed that parents and guardians play a vital role in protecting their children by raising awareness and closely monitoring online activity.

Families are urged to speak openly with their children about the dangers of imitating harmful content shared on social media and to help them resist peer pressure or the desire for online popularity.

Dubai Police also called on the community to report any dangerous or inappropriate behaviour. Reports can be made by calling the Dubai Police Contact Centre on 901 or through the 'Police Eye' service available on the Dubai Police smart application.