Snapchat Lawsuit for Teenage Harm
When Snapchat or other social media platforms negligently create an online product that damages its users, the companies must be held responsible. Today’s children and young adults face vastly different threats than previous generations dealt with. A Snapchat lawsuit may be warranted when the social media platform’s dangerous features harm its users. The social media addiction attorneys at Cutter Law can help advise you of your rights and ensure you receive the justice you deserve.
Social media has come a long way since Myspace was launched in the early 2000s. It was a place for friends to connect and share music and photos. At the time, it seemed innocent enough. Today, however, you are bombarded by constant reports of social media being linked to mental health issues, cyberbullying, sexual abuse, and a host of other issues.Â
Learning that your son or daughter has been harmed by Snapchat, a tech giant that commands billions of dollars in revenue each year may leave you feeling helpless. However, the attorneys at Cutter Law can help you hold social media companies responsible for their actions.
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What Is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a multimedia social networking app that teenagers can use on their smartphones. The popular video and photo-sharing app is owned and operated by Snap Inc. Snapchat users can edit their pictures and videos, add filters, and share their media publicly or privately.
Snapchat's Mission
In Snapchat’s mission statement, the app claims to empower its users to “express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together.” It claims to be the fastest and easiest way to communicate with your friends using your full range of emotions without pressure to be perfect.Â
Snapchat asserts that the app’s camera reinforces friendships via self-expression, communication, and storytelling. It predicts that its camera will help transform the way its users experience the world by combining the technology of the digital world with users’ visual perceptions of the real world.Â
Snapchat User Demographics
Snapchat is not the most popular social media platform. However, it ranks 12th globally, boasting over half a billion monthly users. These numbers make it more widely used than Twitter, Pinterest, and Telegram. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, Snapchat boasted 319 million daily users.Â
Snapchat’s users are most often North Americans under the age of 35. Users are slightly more likely to be female. The average Snapchat user spends 30 minutes in the app per day.Â
Snapchat’s demographic statistics include the following:
- North America makes up 92 million of Snapchat’s daily users, followed by Europe, with 78 million users.
- Almost 39 percent of Snapchat’s user base is between 18 and 24 years old.
- The average user spends 28 minutes on Snapchat daily. This number has increased by three minutes since 2021 and is only five minutes behind Facebook, the current front-runner.
Snapchat will likely remain the social app of choice for Gen Z for the next few years. Between 2014 and 2022, teenagers aged 13 to 17 sharply increased their Snapchat usage from 41 to 59 percent, which beat out Instagram’s 10 percent growth by 8 percentage points. Meanwhile, Gen Z’s participation in social media apps such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr decreased.
Snapchat Allegations
Snapchat faces multiple lawsuits alleging social media harm throughout the United States. Allegations include claims that:
- Snapchat collected users’ biometric data, such as scanned users’ faces, without consent.
- Snapchat connected drug dealers to young adults and minors, resulting in deaths.
- Snapchat negligently designed a speed filter used by a teen who exceeded 100 miles per hour before she crashed her car, injuring another driver.
- Snapchat “fostered a sense of impunity and a haven for child sexual abuse.“
Snapchat and related anonymous messaging apps violated consumer protection law, leading to the suicide of a 16-year-old boy who was bullied for months via anonymous messages.
How are Snapchat and similar apps harming youth?
Snapchat and other social media apps negatively impact American teenagers and children in various ways. Some young users commit suicide after being bullied mercilessly by their peers via anonymous messages.
Others suffer from suicide attempts and long-lasting mental health issues after being groomed and sexually exploited by adults. Some young users have overdosed on fentanyl after using the platform to purchase counterfeit painkillers that contained America’s deadliest drug.
Recent Ruling on Snapchat as a Potentially Defective Product
These allegations are serious, and if valid, the dangerous features of these apps have contributed to severe harm inflicted upon today’s youth. These dangerous features may include:
- Apps that encourage users to act dangerously
- Apps that allow bullying through the use of anonymous messaging
- Apps that embolden illegal behavior, such as drug dealing and sexual predation through the use of disappearing messages
In 2021, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Snapchat and other social media companies can be held accountable for including features that are so clearly dangerous as to render the app defective.
Do Snapchat's features make it defective?
It remains to be seen whether Snapchat’s features render the product defective. In Lemmon v. Snap, the appeals court held that the lower court improperly granted Snap immunity by misapplying the Communications Decency Act to shield the company from the alleged claims of defect.
While the court did not rule Snapchat’s features render the platform defective, this ruling opens the door for other lawsuits where courts may hold that Snapchat’s product is defective.
Legal Implications of the Snapchat Lawsuit
The Lemmon v. Snap lawsuit treated Snapchat as a manufacturer with a duty to design a reasonably safe product rather than a defendant who monitors and publishes third-party content. Parties who have a claim that can prove a social media company provided an unsafe product may prevail in their legal suit.
Social Media Liability for Defective Products
In Lemmon v. Snap, the surviving parents argued that Snapchat’s defective product contributed to children’s deaths. Following the court of appeal’s ruling, Snapchat removed its speed filter from the platform. The speedometer was introduced in 2013, and since the speed filter’s introduction, multiple families have filed lawsuits alleging its role in their loved ones’ high-speed accidents.
Under the product liability doctrine, the plaintiffs may succeed in holding Snapchat strictly liable for the deaths related to the company’s speed filter. Strict liability means that courts could hold Snapchat responsible for these deaths regardless of their intentions or knowledge.Â
Potential Damage Awards
Snapchat is a large social media platform that profits from its users’ interactions with the app. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Snap posted $1.3 billion in revenue. When large corporations harm their user base, damage awards can be substantial.Â
For example, Snap recently settled a lawsuit with Illinois residents who claimed the company stored their facial recognition data without consent. Snap will pay a settlement of $35 million.
Each lawsuit is unique, and not every claim will receive millions of dollars in damage awards. To estimate your claim’s worth, it is best to speak directly to an attorney who understands the intricacies of a lawsuit against Snapchat for teen harm.Â
Our Attorneys Are Here to Help You Get The Justice You Deserve
You have legal rights if Snapchat or other social media platforms have harmed your loved one.
The social media harm lawyers at Cutter Law are here to help you with your Snapchat lawsuit. Social media companies must be held accountable for the harm they inflict upon our children.
We have helped recover hundreds of millions of dollars in defective product cases. We understand how serious a social media lawsuit can be.Â
Contact Cutter Law today to arrange your free case review.
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