(Bloomberg) — Meta Platforms Inc and Addon Inc. were sued for the suicide of a teenager in an advocacy group's latest effort to hold social media giants accountable for addiction to their platforms.
Christopher James Dawley, known as CJ, was an honors student who played sports and enjoyed outdoor activities, but became so involved in social media that he often communicated on Instagram at 3 a.m., according to a lawsuit filed Monday by his mother in federal court in Wisconsin.
“CJ never showed any visible signs of depression or mental harm, but he became addicted to the defendants' social media products, became progressively sleep-deprived and increasingly obsessed with his body image,” his mother, Donna Dawley, said in her complaint.
In January 2014, while CJ's family was cleaning Christmas decorations and about a month before his 17th birthday, he posted on his Facebook page “Who turned off the light?” , took a 22-caliber rifle with one hand, his cell phone in the other and committed suicide with one shot, according to the court file.
Like previous cases filed by Seattle-based Social Media Victims Law Center, the lawsuit alleges that Meta deliberately designed algorithms that keep teens hooked on their platforms to promote overuse that they know is indicative of their addictive and self-destructive use.
“Neither Meta nor Snap warned users or their parents about the addictive and mentally harmful effects that the use of their products was known to cause among minor users,” Donna Dawley alleged in her complaint.
Representatives from Meta and Snap did not immediately respond to emails seeking feedback outside of normal business hours.
Original Note:
Meta, Snap Sued by Mother of Wisconsin Teen for His Suicide (1)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.