Englyn Roberts: Parents of California teen, 14, sue Meta as she ends her life after copying Instagram video
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If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: The parents of a 14-year-old girl are suing social media giant Meta after she ended her life by suicide after watching a video showing a "pretend hanging" on Instagram. On August 2020, Englyn Roberts' parents found their daughter in her bedroom after she tried to recreate the video. The young girl was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead after a few days.
Roberts parents, Toney and Brandy, later discovered that her friend has sent her a video on Instagram of a woman "pretending to hang herself." It was only after a whistleblower revealed Meta's sensitive and harmful content that was specifically targeting young girls, promoting self-harm and anorexia, in 2021, that Toney started to understand what had happened. Since then scores of lawsuits have been filed against the tech giant claiming it was aware of the said harmful content but failed to put an end to it despite strict policies, as per Daily Mail.
