Russian authorities are investigating a hugely popular YouTube series known for its animated, human-headed toilets belting out songs.
A Moscow man turned to police last week after he said he’d “accidentally” seen the web series Skibidi Toilet and become concerned about its effect on children, according to local news reports. A law enforcement source said the man had demanded that access to the videos be blocked for their “detrimental effect” on kids.
He reportedly demanded that the series’ creator, Alexey Gerasimov, also be investigated. Skibidi Toilet, a nonsensical series popular with kids, features no dialogue and has only a vaguely discernible plot about human-headed toilets fighting against electronic-headed humanoids.
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But it has spawned numerous memes on TikTok and Instagram and become “one of [2023’s] biggest cultural moments,” YouTube culture and trends manager Maddy Buxton told The Washington Post. “I’ve never quite seen anything blow up like this,” Buxton said.
Investigators have now reportedly been tasked with watching hours and hours of Skibidi Toilet videos. Scrutiny of the singing toilets comes after Russian lawmakers announced plans last summer to create a procedure for checking the safety of a toy or game’s “spiritual and moral ideology.”
The blue-furred, sharp-toothed character Huggy Wuggy from the horror survival game Poppy Playtime was cited as a reason for such checks.
“This character comes to life and must kill its owner,” lawmaker Tatyana Butskaya lamented to Izvestia, adding that Huggy Wuggy “causes horror among children, parents, and legislators.”
