Lawsuit Filed Against Meta Over Teen Suicides Linked to Instagram

Two families have filed a lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Instagram, following the tragic suicides of their teenage sons, Levi Maciejewski, 13, from Pennsylvania, and Murray Dowey, 16, from Scotland.

The lawsuit alleges that Meta ignored the rising threat of sextortion, a form of online sexual blackmail using Instagram, which targeted both boys. According to the lawsuit, sextortion schemes often involve scammers posing as peers to gain the trust of their victims, leading to emotional distress and, in these cases, suicide.

The families claim that Meta's design decisions prioritized profit over user safety, particularly for vulnerable teenagers. Matthew Bergman, the lead attorney for the families, emphasized that the dangers posed by these scams were foreseeable and that internal records suggest Meta was aware of the issues yet failed to act adequately.

In response, Meta stated that they are actively fighting sextortion on their platforms and have implemented various protective measures, including making accounts private by default for users under 16.

However, the plaintiffs argue these measures came too late to prevent the tragedies. This lawsuit is part of a broader legal movement to hold social media platforms accountable for the safety of young users in the face of increasing online threats, particularly those exacerbated by AI-driven algorithms that promote engagement over safety.