The families of victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, are suing Activision, Meta, and gun manufacturer Daniel Defense. This lawsuit, representing the families of the Uvalde school shooting victims, is spearheaded by attorney Josh Koskoff, renowned for his previous success in securing a settlement from Remington for the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims.
The Uvalde shooting lawsuit alleges that over the past 15 years, Activision and Meta have collaborated with the firearms industry in a marketing scheme aimed at young consumers. It specifically targets Activision’s popular “Call of Duty” video game franchise, claiming it has helped cultivate a new, youthful consumer base for the AR-15 assault rifle. Additionally, it accuses Instagram, owned by Meta, of promulgating easily circumvented rules that supposedly prohibit firearm advertising but actually serve as a guide for the gun industry.
In response, Activision expressed its sympathies to the families and communities affected by the Uvalde shooting. However, the company emphasized that academic and scientific research has consistently shown no causal link between video games and gun violence.
The lawsuit describes the Uvalde shooting shooter as a player of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” and alleges Daniel Defense’s advertising on Instagram targeted him. While Meta bans gun sales on its platforms, a report by The Washington Post revealed that the company allows gun sellers ten strikes before removing them. This revelation has intensified the scrutiny on Meta’s role in allegedly facilitating access to firearms through social media.
The Uvalde shooting lawsuit claims that the defendants are exploiting alienated teenage boys and turning them into mass shooters. This assertion reignites the longstanding debate over whether video games promote gun violence, a topic of significant concern among politicians and researchers. A recent review by the Stanford Brainstorm Lab examined 82 medical research articles and concluded that there is no causal link between playing video games and real-life gun violence.
As the legal proceedings unfold, the families of the Uvalde shooting victims hope to highlight the complex web of influences that may contribute to such tragic events, and to hold accountable those they believe play a role in perpetuating gun violence. The outcome of this lawsuit could have significant implications for the intersection of technology, media, and firearm regulations.
