AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Snap Inc., alleging the company deceived parents about Snapchat’s safety and exposed Texas children to addictive features and inappropriate content.
Paxton filed the lawsuit in Austin, accusing Snapchat of failing to adequately warn parents and consumers about inappropriate material on the platform and the app’s addictive design.
The lawsuit alleges Snapchat’s creators knowingly misrepresented the app’s safety to parents and consumers by promoting it as safe for children and carrying “12+” age ratings on app stores, while “simultaneously frequently exposing users to dangerous and mature content that includes profanity, sexual content, nudity, and drug use.”
The lawsuit also points to features such as “Snapstreaks” and other incentives to use the app daily, alleging they can harm young minds because of their addictive nature.
“I will not allow Snapchat to harm our kids by running a business designed to get Texas children addicted to a platform filled with obscene and destructive content,” Paxton said. “Parents have a fundamental right to know the dangers of the apps their kids are using and not be lied to by Big Tech companies. This lawsuit will hold Snapchat accountable for illegally undermining parental rights, deceiving consumers, and for putting children in danger.”
The lawsuit follows other legal actions Paxton has taken against several Big Tech and social media companies, including similar suits against TikTok and Roblox.