A Scottish couple whose teenage son took his own life after being blackmailed on Instagram are suing the platform’s owner Meta, in what’s thought to be the first UK case of its kind.
Murray Dowey was 16 when he died in his home in Dunblane in December 2023 after he was targeted by scammers posing as a young girl.
His parents have now launched legal action against Meta in a US court seeking punitive damages claiming that Instagram was not safe. Their lawyers are claiming the company “knew of safety features that would prevent sextortion” prior to his death and instead “prioritised profit”.
Meta previously said it had made real changes to Instagram, and said it supports law enforcement to prosecute the criminals behind sextortion, adding “we continue to fight them on our apps on multiple fronts”.
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Meta is culpable, yes. But, the parents must bear some responsibility of what children are looking at.
How about teaching your children not to share intimate photos of themselves? Let’s start there.
This is horrible but who let their kids you Instagram, Tiktok and other medium. My daughter was using Tiktok and became horrible. The things they see and follow and the end up believing what they see and not the parents. She was not living with me. Nevertheless we parents are also responsible for not saying NO. No you don’t take and share nudes for any reason. No you don’t try drugs. If you do, you will be responsible for the outcome. So please, don’t do these things. We parents are responsible too.
My kids(if I ever have any)wont ever have a smartphone til they’re 18
Block the entire country from the platform until the police can fix the gang problems.
Or maybe we should have an age restriction on the app?
The BBC have failed to celebrate the cure for Trump Derangement Syndrome Pioneered by Nick Reiner which is carbon neutral organic and sustainable and protecting the Whole Civilised World against Vile Nazi Hate Preaching against President Trump
10 years ago they uploaded the video the victim was a scotland teenager Daniel perry
Australia got it right.
I feel sorry for Gen Z and the following generations who grow up with social media! Social media is toxic, addictive and dangerous.
Don‘t trust anyone, don‘t talk to strangers online.
AI now made it easier for these scammers to create fake images and messages, how horrible!