Jennifer Mitchell, whose 16-year-old son Ian Ezquerra died in Florida in 2019 after filming himself playing Russian roulette for Snapchat, has criticised Meta’s reported $18 billion settlement over child-harm claims as insufficient. She alleges that social-media algorithms and inadequate age controls contributed to his worsening mental health and death; Meta and Snap remain defendants in her separate, ongoing lawsuit. The case highlights continuing scrutiny of platforms’ responsibility for harmful content, recommendation systems and young users’ safety.

Police classified Ezquerra’s death as suicide, while Mitchell says officers did not investigate a potential social-media role; the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment. She said he first mentioned self-harm during a European cruise weeks before his death, and that friends later told her he had been experiencing depression and emotional distress. Mitchell argues that, in 2019, children could easily create accounts despite age restrictions and that exposure to bullying and harmful videos led him into an online “rabbit hole”.