Families of victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, are suing Activision and Meta, as well as gun manufacturer Daniel Defense.
The families filing the lawsuits are represented by attorney Josh Koskoff, who previously won a Remington deal for the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. The lawsuit against technology companies states: “For the past 15 years, two of America’s largest technology companies… have collaborated with the firearms industry on a plan that makes joe camello’s campaign It seems ridiculously harmless, even quaint.”
Specifically, the lawsuit targets Activision’s popular “Call of Duty” video game franchise, which it describes as a “slick form of marketing.” [that] has helped cultivate a new, youthful consumer base for the AR-15 assault rifle,” and Instagram, the Meta-owned photo app, which the lawsuit says “knowingly promulgates weak and easily circumvented rules that appear to prohibit the firearms advertising; In fact, these rules serve as a manual for the gun industry.”
In a declarationActivision expressed sympathy for the families, but said: “Millions of people around the world enjoy video games without resorting to horrible acts.” We’ve reached out to Activision and Meta for additional comment.
According to the lawsuit, the Uvalde shooter was a “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” player and was also a target of Daniel Defense advertising on Instagram. (Meta bans gun sales on its platforms, but The Washington Post previously reported that The company gives 10 strikes to gun sellers. before tearing them off.)
“Defendants are devouring alienated teenagers and spitting out mass shooters,” the lawsuit argues.
Politicians continue to debate whether video games promote gun violence. A recent review from the Stanford Brainstorm Lab examined 82 medical research articles on the topic and concluded: “current medical research and studies have found no causal link between video games and real-life gun violence.”