Uvalde families sue Meta and 'Call of Duty' publisher over alleged links to gun violence

The families of victims of the Uvalde school shooting filed lawsuits against tech giant Meta and major video game developer Activision Blizzard on Friday, arguing the companies played a role in “grooming” the teenage gunman.

The wrongful death complaints contend that Georgia-based gun manufacturer Daniel Defense used Meta-owned social media platform Instagram and Activison Blizzard — maker of the popular "Call of Duty" video game franchise — to market the weapon used by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, who shot and killed 19 children and two teachers and injured several others at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022.

The lawsuits claim Meta and Activision "are chewing up alienated teenage boys and spitting out mass shooters" and that Instagram’s poor oversight of its platform gives gun manufacturers "an unsupervised channel to speak directly to minors.” Meta does not allow gunmakers to directly purchase ads promoting their weapons but does give them the ability to create and post on their own Facebook and Instagram accounts.

"Over the last 15 years, two of America’s largest technology companies — Defendants Activision and Meta — have collaborated with the firearms industry in a scheme that makes the Joe Camel campaign look laughably harmless, even quaint," the filing reads. "Defendants, through products that count millions of teenagers and pre-teens among their users, have aided and abetted firearm manufacturers’ efforts to expand the market for their weapons by granting unprecedented, direct, 24/7 access to children."

The complaints, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on the two-year anniversary of the shooting, also argue that "Call of Duty" has created an addicting channel for violence among teenage boys and trained them to use the weapons in real life. Microsoft purchased Activision in 2022 for $75 billion.

Lawyers for the families filed a separate lawsuit in Uvalde County District Court against gunmaker Daniel Defense, the maker of the AR-15 assault weapon used by Ramos in the shooting.

In a statement, Activision distanced itself from any violent behavior.

"The Uvalde shooting was horrendous and heartbreaking in every way, and we express our deepest sympathies to the families and communities who remain impacted by this senseless act of violence. Millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrific acts."

Meta and Daniel Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The families are represented by Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, the law firm that won a $73 million settlement from gun manufacturer Remington in the fallout of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting.

The strength of that case, which concluded in 2022, was initially doubted by some legal experts because firearm manufacturers have federal immunity from most civil litigation. The Connecticut Supreme Court, however, allowed the case to move forward on the grounds that Remington potentially violated state consumer protection laws outlawing dishonest marketing.

Online platforms like Instagram and Facebook, also owned by Meta, similarly have federal immunity that in most cases prevents companies from being sued for actions committed by users.

The California portion of the legal action will give judges another opportunity to examine Section 230, the 1998 provision that allows online platforms to operate without fear of being held liable for dangerous content, if they take reasonable steps to delete or prevent it. The Supreme Court left Section 230 unchanged last year in two cases related to the provision.