A Florida mother whose teenage son died in a twisted game of Snapchat Russian roulette is speaking out against an $18 billion multi-state settlement with Meta, calling the tech giant’s payout inadequate.

Jennifer Mitchell’s 16-year-old son, Ian Ezquerra, shot himself while filming and posting videos of himself playing Russian roulette on Snapchat in 2019.

The police classified his death as a suicide, but three years after her son’s death, Mitchell sued Meta and Snap, claiming that social media algorithms lured him toward depression and down into a digital rabbit hole. Her lawsuit is still active.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mitchell revealed new details about the weeks before her son’s passing and his mental health.

Mitchell and her son went on a cruise trip to Europe weeks before he died, when he first mentioned his thoughts about self-harm.

‘That was the first time we ever heard those words,’ Mitchell said.

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Jennifer Mitchell and her 16-year-old son, Ian Ezquerra, went on a cruise trip to Europe only weeks before he shot himself in 2019
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Mitchell said that she did not hear about her son’s mental health struggles before the trip: ‘We do know for a fact that he was going through some kind of emotional distress, some depression and everything only because his friends told me so and I didn’t even know’

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Mitchell sued Meta and Snapchat three years after her son’s death and her lawsuit remains active. She also said that police officers at the time of Ezquerra’s death did not ‘want to investigate the social media aspect of my son’s death’
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She also explained that her son was dealing with mental health issues that she was not aware of at the time.

‘We do know for a fact that he was going through some kind of emotional distress, some depression and everything only because his friends told me so and I didn’t even know.

‘My son went between two households. I guess it is easy for things to get unnoticed. He can put on a facade for me and he probably put on a facade for his dad. Certain behaviors might go unnoticed when you are being shuffled back and forth.’

After their return to the US, Mitchell discussed what happened with her ex-husband and Ezquerra’s father who ‘insisted that he was fine, that they spoke about it.

‘And my son told his dad that he didn’t even remember saying those words.

‘But unfortunately, our son took his life a month later.’

Mitchell insisted her son died after the social platform’s algorithms encouraged him to participate in the online challenge but that police officers with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office did not even ‘want to investigate the social media aspect of my son’s death.

‘In fact, one of the police officers actually said to me verbatim: “Don’t you see that your son wanted to die?”‘

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office declined the Daily Mail’s request for comment.

Mitchell added: ‘There was ample amount of evidence that was found of basically leading him up to what happened, to his death. It’s between bullying, other videos that he has seen – it took him down a rabbit hole.

‘Back then, we were just starting to learn about these algorithms, we were just starting to notice them. And finding that out was absolutely heartbreaking.

‘I didn’t approve of him having an Instagram account. I didn’t approve of him having a Snapchat account. These were things he just was capable of and able to create on his own.

‘It was a very uncontrolled environment. Kids who really wanted to have accounts could just click a button saying: “Yes, I am this age” and that’s it.’

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Ezquerra’s mom said that the social media world in 2019 ‘was a very uncontrolled environment. Kids who really wanted to have accounts could just click a button saying: “Yes, I am this age” and that’s it’
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Ezquerra publicly voiced his thoughts of self-harm for the first time during the Europe trip with his mother
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Mitchell got a tattoo of her son’s face on her leg. She wants to fight for more awareness of the dark side of social media’s powerful algorithms
Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, has rejected a settlement in which Meta committed to paying $18 billion to 47 states after lawsuits over the impact of social media on the mental health of young users.

Uthmeier described the payout as ‘peanuts’ and a ‘slap on the wrist’ for the corporation and said that Florida will continue to pursue a jury trial for financial damages.

As part of the settlement, Meta also agreed to implement safety features like daily two-hour time limits and disabling push notifications during school hours among other measures.

New Mexico is the only other state that did not join the settlement.

Mitchell said the willingness of Meta to settle ‘just shows that they know that they had a part in a bunch of people’s deaths.’

Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Snapchat is owned by Snap Inc.

Founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center and attorney for Mitchell, Matthew Bergman, told the Daily Mail that the new safety measures would not appropriately tackle the major problems of social media platforms.

It is still not clear when an independent auditor will start monitoring Meta or when Mitchell’s individual lawsuit against the tech companies will go to trial.

Bergman said: ‘Unfortunately, what this settlement doesn’t do is force Meta to change the intentionally addictive design of their algorithms that maximize engagement and harm children.’

Bergman also called the settlement a ‘bellwether for the rest of the world.

‘Meta and other social media platforms that intentionally addict children and cause irreparable harm and even death must be held to account not just in the US but in other countries too.

‘It is only when the total value of global damages and settlements starts to have a meaningful financial impact on their shareholders that these social media platforms will feel the pressure to prioritise safety over profits.’

If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at