お知らせ • Apr 13
Social Media Victims Law Center Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Meta Platforms, Inc. and Snap, Inc. in Suicide of 17-Year-Old Christopher J. Dawley
Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC) announced it has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. and Snap, Inc. to hold each accountable for the suicide death of Christopher J. “CJ” Dawley, 17, of Salem, WI., on January 4, 2015. The lawsuit alleges that Meta Platforms and Snap knowingly and purposefully designed, manufactured, marketed and sold social media products that were unreasonably dangerous because they were designed to be addictive to minor users despite knowledge that the foreseeable use of these social media products causes mental and physical harm to minor users. These safeguards include verifying minor users’ age and identity; providing adequate parental controls and monitoring; protecting minor users from intentionally being directed to harmful and exploitive content; offering protection for minors from being sexually exploited and abused; designing non-addictive social media products; and providing adequate notification to parents about the dangerous and problematic usage of social media by minors. By all outward appearances CJ was a typical teenager. He was a member of his church and worked as a busboy at a local restaurant; was enrolled in Advanced Placement and Honors courses; loved woods and metal classes; and was admitted to college in December 2014. He enjoyed recreational activities like golfing, volleyball, riding his ATV, snowmobiling, tubing, camping and the outdoors. But his greater loves were his car, his tractor and fixing and taking things apart. CJ joined Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat in 2012. Just two years later, CJ had developed an addiction to Meta Platforms’ social media applications, communicating through social media at all hours of the night—often until 3 am on school nights—resulting in sleep deprivation, an increased obsession with his body image and exchanging explicit photographs with other users. In December 2014, CJ developed a pain in his legs which led him to believe his body was permanently deficient. He never showed any outward signs of depression or mental injury, but on January 4, 2015, he retreated to his room while his family cleaned up Christmas decorations, sent his best friend a text message saying, “God speed,” posted “Who turned out the light?” on his Facebook page and wrote a note to his family on the envelope to his college acceptance letter saying goodbye. He then held a 22-caliber rifle in one hand, his smartphone in the other and shot himself. CJ’s family thought he was sleeping and didn’t discover his body until five hours later when his sister found he had died by suicide. CJ’s parents, Chris and Donna Dawley, understand that suing the most wealthy and powerful corporations in the world will be risky, difficult and painful and that no amount of money could ever compensate them for the loss their family sustained. Nevertheless, Mr. Dawley explained: “If effort to hold these companies responsible for exposing kids to their deadly products prevents even one family from experiencing the pain that family has suffered by CJ’s loss, struggle will have been worthwhile.” This is the second wrongful death lawsuit that SMVLC has filed against Meta Platforms and Snap. On January 21, 2022, SMVLC filed a lawsuit against these social media companies for the suicide death of 11-year-old Selena Rodriguez of Enfield, Conn., on July 21, 2021. Dawley v. Meta Platforms Inc., 22-cv-00444, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin.