Parents of sextortion victim who took his own life sue Instagram owner Meta

The household of a teenage lad who took his ain beingness aft being blackmailed connected Instagram are suing the platform's proprietor Meta.

Warning: This nonfiction contains details that immoderate readers whitethorn find distressing.

Murray Dowey, from Dunblane successful Scotland, was conscionable 16 years aged erstwhile helium became a unfortunate of online sextortion successful December 2023.

His parents, Mark and Ros Dowey, person present launched ineligible enactment against Meta successful a US tribunal alongside different household amid claims the tech elephantine failed to support children connected its platforms.

Lawyers are alleging the institution "knew of information features that would forestall sextortion" but alternatively "prioritised profit".

Mrs Dowey told Sky News determination is simply a "growing service of parents" who person suffered "unimaginable pain" owed to societal media platforms.

She added: "We've mislaid the astir precious thing. We've got thing near to lose.

"We volition spot this done to the extremity due to the fact that the worst happening that could hap to america has already happened."

Meta, which besides owns Facebook, branded sextortion a "horrific crime" and said it supports instrumentality enforcement to prosecute the criminals down it.

The steadfast added: "We proceed to combat them connected our apps connected aggregate fronts."

It is believed Murray was exploited by criminals successful West Africa, who posed arsenic a young girl.

The teen was tricked into sending intimate images of himself and was told they would beryllium exposed to his household if helium failed to pay.

Mrs Dowey branded the scammers "scum".

She added: "Murray was perfectly good erstwhile helium went up to his country that night. He was talking astir going to shot the adjacent day, talking astir his vacation with his friends.

"It virtually happened successful the abstraction of a fewer hours successful his chamber wherever helium should person been the safest.

"There was nary accidental for america to intervene oregon announcement thing was incorrect due to the fact that helium didn't travel done for immoderate reason.

"He went from perfectly good to dormant the adjacent morning."

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Mrs Dowey described her lad arsenic a "lovely, funny, benignant lad who had everything to unrecorded for".

The Stirling Albion FC protagonist loved going retired with his friends and was expected to spell connected to assemblage aft secondary school.

Mrs Dowey said: "We're conscionable each devastated. He's got an older and a younger brother, truthful helium was the mediate peacemaker betwixt them.

"Everything we do, we're alert there's a spot bare that should beryllium Murray. And that's going to beryllium for the remainder of our lives arsenic his brothers graduate, arsenic they get married, arsenic they person children.

"It's been horrific to person gone from a wholly mean household to having to unrecorded with this for the remainder of our lives."

The suit has been filed by the Social Media Victims Law Centre (SMVLC).

The Doweys person been named alongside Tricia Maciejewski, from Pennsylvania, whose lad Levi took his ain beingness astatine the property of 13.

Meta highlighted a fig of its information features which aims to combat perchance suspicious adults and imaginable sextortion accounts, which includes a caller artifact and study enactment successful DMs.

A spokesperson for the steadfast said: "Since 2021, we've placed teens nether 16 into backstage accounts erstwhile they motion up for Instagram, which means they person to o.k. immoderate caller followers.

"We enactment to forestall accounts showing suspicious behaviour from pursuing teens and debar recommending teens to them.

"We besides instrumentality different precautionary steps, similar blurring perchance delicate images sent successful DMs and reminding teens of the risks of sharing them, and letting radical cognize erstwhile they're chatting to idiosyncratic who whitethorn beryllium successful a antithetic country."

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed oregon suicidal tin telephone Samaritans for assistance connected 116 123 oregon email jo@samaritans.org successful the UK.