Pennsylvania suing Snapchat | AG says platform fails to protect children
HARRISBURG, Pa. —
Pennsylvania is filing a lawsuit against the social media company Snap Inc., which owns and operates the popular platform Snapchat.
In a Tuesday afternoon news conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said the company fails to warn users of “platform addictiveness” and does not protect children from compulsive use.
The lawsuit also alleges that Snapchat lies about how often adult material, such as sexual content, suicidal ideation and drug use, appears on its platform.
“Snapchat has designed its platform to lure children into constant, compulsive use that is detrimental to healthy adolescent development,” Sunday said. “This lawsuit demands that Snapchat finally admit publicly that its platform is highly addictive and that it takes real action to keep kids safe.”
The attorney general’s complaint said there are platform designs unique to Snapchat that make it highly addictive, such as its SnapStreak features.
LINK | Read the full complaint here.
“Snapchat is one of the most popular apps for teens, with about half of teens (ages 13-17) being daily users of the app, according to Pew Research Center. About 13 percent of teens report being on it ‘almost constantly,’ according to Pew,” the AG’s Office said in a statement.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of a similar suit filed in early August against TikTok.