Bay Area mom sues Meta claiming social media algorithms led to son’s death while playing Russian roulette

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - As Florida lawmakers consider a bill that would restrict social media for children, a Bay Area mother says she knows firsthand just how dangerous it can be and has joined several families in a lawsuit against Meta.

Jennifer Mitchell’s 16-year-old son, Ian, died while recording himself playing Russian roulette, a deadly game where one bullet is in a six-chamber gun and someone takes their chances by pulling the trigger.

Mitchell believes Ian was being fed these dangerous ideas by social media platforms and is alleging in a lawsuit against all Meta-platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Snap Inc., that algorithms played a part in her son’s death. She found multiple videos on his Snapchat account after his suicide.

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"I saw his videos, three videos of what looked like him playing Russian roulette…the last video that he made never went anywhere," Mitchell told FOX 13.

Pictured: Jennifer Mitchell's son Ian

"[He was watching] danger videos, high adrenaline videos…only the videos kept getting more intense and more intense. Eventually, he wanted to participate in it…the likes, the popularity," Mitchell explained. "He was also receiving friend requests from predators…and being encouraged to do self-harm and to do these videos by these actors and others."

When asked if she thought her son would still be alive if not for social media, Mitchell said, "Absolutely."

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She is one of many parents that attorney Matt Bergman is representing against Meta.

File: Snapchat

"This was a result of design decisions by social media companies to put user engagement over user safety," said Bergman with Social Media Victims Law Center. "Young people’s brains don’t have the reasoning of older people…the social media companies’ prey upon that vulnerability for maximizing advertising revenue."

Mitchell hopes her lawsuit will spark change and says has a warning for other parents: "Don’t allow your kids on social media."

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was on Capitol Hill this week at a hearing to address concerns about the interaction between children and social media platforms, where he apologized to grieving parents. He said he would work with them to make Facebook and other platforms safer, while also touting the safety measures already in place.