Meta Platforms—Families of two teens who died by suicide filed lawsuit alleging Instagram enabled sextortion targeting minors
In December 2025, families of Levi Maciejewski (13, Pennsylvania, died 2024) and Murray Downey (16, Scotland, died 2023) sued Meta alleging Instagram's design enabled sextortion schemes targeting teens. The lawsuit cited an internal 2022 audit that allegedly found Instagram's 'Accounts You May Follow' feature recommended 1.4 million potentially inappropriate adults to teenage users in a single day. Instagram's default public privacy settings for teens were not changed to private until 2024, despite Meta claiming the change was made in 2021.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child Safety | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Digital Safety for Vulnerable Users | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| User Privacy | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.448 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.72)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (3 signals)
NBC News reported families of two teens who died by suicide sued Meta over Instagram sextortion
Families of Levi Maciejewski (13) and Murray Downey (16) filed wrongful death lawsuit alleging Instagram's design enabled sextortion targeting teens, citing internal audit showing 1.4M inappropriate adult recommendations to teens daily.
Attorney Bergman stated Meta knew Instagram was 'a hunting ground for predators' and chose engagement over safety
Social Media Victims Law Center attorney Matthew Bergman stated: 'Meta's secret is out. For years, Meta knew Instagram was a hunting ground for predators, yet chose to protect engagement metrics over children's lives.' NCMEC reported over 23,000 financial sextortion cases in the first half of 2025, a 70% increase year-over-year.
The Hill reported Meta faces at least four other sextortion lawsuits alleging Instagram ignored complaints for years
The Hill reported on the sextortion lawsuit, noting Meta faces at least four other sextortion-related lawsuits claiming Instagram ignored complaints about the scheme for years. The lawsuit alleged teen deaths 'were the foreseeable result of Meta's design decisions and repeated refusals to implement affordable, available, and identified safety features.'