The parents of a 16-year-old boy from Scotland who took his own life after falling victim to a sextortion scam on Instagram are now suing the platform's parent company, Meta.
A Family's Tragedy and Legal Fight
Murray Dowey, from Dunblane near Stirling, died in 2023. His parents, Mark and Ros Dowey, have launched legal proceedings against the social media giant in the Superior Court of Delaware. They are seeking punitive damages and have pledged to take the fight "as far as we can."
Ros Dowey told the BBC: "The worst thing that could possibly happen to us has happened. There's nothing that Meta can do that is worse than what's happened, so we're up for the fight."
How Instagram Allegedly Failed Murray
According to lawyers from the Social Media Victims Law Center, who are representing the family, Murray began using Instagram when he was just 10 years old. In late December 2023, the platform's systems connected him to a predator who was posing as a young girl.
This individual manipulated the teenager into sending compromising photographs and then blackmailed him, threatening to expose the images to his friends and family unless he paid money.
Sextortion is a devastating form of online blackmail where criminals, often targeting young people globally, coerce victims with intimate material.
Meta's Response and Safety Measures
In a statement to the BBC, a Meta spokesperson outlined the company's protective steps for younger users. These include working to prevent accounts with suspicious behaviour from following teens, not recommending teens to such accounts, and placing users under 16 into private accounts by default since 2021.
The company also said it blurs potentially sensitive images sent via direct messages, reminds teens of the risks of sharing such content, and alerts users when they are chatting with someone who may be in a different country. Meta added that it supports law enforcement efforts to prosecute sextortion criminals.
However, the family's lawyer, Matthew P Bergman, alleges profound failings. "For years, Meta knew Instagram was a hunting ground for predators, yet chose to protect engagement metrics over children's lives," he said. "That conscious decision to connect random strangers to children has cost families their sons and daughters."
