Families sue Meta over teen suicides linked to Instagram sextortion scams

Summary

Two families filed a lawsuit in Delaware against Meta, alleging that Instagram's platform enabled sextortion scams that drove two teenage boys—13‑year‑old Levi Maciejewski in Pennsylvania and 16‑year‑old Murray Dowey in Scotland—to die by suicide. The plaintiffs contend that Instagram’s default public settings and allowance of direct messages from strangers left minors vulnerable to blackmail, and that Meta ignored known risks despite internal records. Meta claims to have introduced safety measures such as private accounts for minors, but the families argue these steps came too late. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and adds to a growing number of sextortion‑related lawsuits against the company.