The parents of a 16-year-old boy from Scotland have launched a landmark lawsuit against Meta, the owner of Instagram, following their son's suicide after he was targeted in a devastating sextortion scam.
A Tragic Case and a Legal First
Murray Dowey from Dunblane died in December 2023 after being deceived by online criminals posing as a young girl. The fraudsters duped him into sending explicit images and then threatened to share them with his family unless he paid them money. His parents, Ros and Mark Dowey, have now filed a lawsuit in the United States, alleging his death was wrongful and 'foreseeable'.
The legal action, believed to be the first UK case centred on the crime of sextortion, accuses Meta of prioritising user engagement over safety. The complaint states the company 'knew' its recommendation systems were being used in a way that connected teenage Instagram users to sextortionists. It further alleges Meta made 'false and misleading statements' about the platform's safety for teens while internal testing revealed it was 'matchmaking children to adult predators'.
Meta's Response and the Scale of the Problem
A spokesperson for Meta stated that sextortion is a 'horrific crime' and outlined measures the company has taken. These include placing under-16s into private accounts by default, working to prevent suspicious accounts from contacting teens, and blurring sensitive images in direct messages. However, the Dowey family's lawsuit claims the firm has repeatedly refused to implement known safety features.
The scale of the issue is significant and growing. Official estimates indicate around 2,080 online threats and extortion crimes were recorded in 2023-24, a 14% rise from the previous year and a six-fold increase since 2019-20. Police Scotland confirms most of these relate to sextortion. Despite this, conviction rates remain extremely low, with the Crown Office reporting just 10 relevant charges and one conviction in the last year.
A Call for Accountability and Support for Victims
Ros Dowey told the BBC that social media companies have been 'allowed to get away with' harming children and must now 'take accountability'. 'The worst thing that could possibly happen to us has happened,' she said. 'We'll take it as far as we can.'
The lawsuit, filed in Delaware by the Social Media Victims Law Center, also represents the family of 13-year-old Levi Maciejewski from Pennsylvania, who died in similar circumstances. Campaigners and the National Crime Agency (NCA) stress that sextortion is heavily under-reported. The NCA says UK police receive an average of 117 reports each month from under-18s and runs campaigns to encourage victims to seek help, emphasising they are not to blame.
Alex Murray, NCA Director of Threat Leadership, said: 'A lot of victims feel responsible for the situation they find themselves in. But we need them to know this is absolutely not the case; you are not to blame and help and support is available.'
