Snapchat Fentanyl Lawsuit
The social media platform Snapchat has facilitated the sale of illegal fentanyl-laced drugs to young people, leading to the untimely overdose deaths of many adolescents. Law enforcement agencies are investigating Snapchat’s role in these deaths, and parents are filing civil lawsuits alleging the platform should be held responsible. If your child has overdosed due to this social media app, contact Cutter Law about filing a lawsuit against Snapchat.Â
If you are a parent of a teenager, it’s imperative to understand the risks of the social media platform Snapchat. Emerging evidence shows that young people are using this application to purchase illegally made counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl that can lead to addiction, overdose, and death.Â
Snapchat does not directly sell these drugs, but the social media platform’s features allow drug dealers to easily find and communicate with susceptible young people without their parents’ knowledge.
At Cutter Law, we represent families negatively affected by social media, including recent cases surrounding teens’ mental health. If your child has overdosed on an illegally made drug acquired through Snapchat, contact us for a free consultation.
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What Is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a social media platform that allows people to send photos, videos, and messages to others. The app’s main feature, auto-erasing images and messages, makes it unique among most platforms. Users can send a photo to specific friends or the general public. While doing so, they can also set the viewing time on the images for a limited number of seconds.Â
Snapchat markets itself to young people, who use filters, animations, games, and avatars to enhance their photos. These features make the app extremely appealing and popular among teenage users.
Social media platforms have been sued recently for various reasons, including social media addiction and failing to address sex trafficking. Many of these social media lawsuits name Snapchat as a defendant. Some allegations against Snapchat include improper collection of users’ data and violating consumer protection laws that, in at least one instance, led to a young person’s suicide.
Another disturbing trend is how drug dealers use Snapchat to sell pills laced with fentanyl.
How Snapchat Contributes to the Fentanyl Crisis
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times stronger than morphine. All opioids are prone to addiction and possible overdose, but these are more likely with fentanyl due to its strength.
Fentanyl is manufactured illegally and used in counterfeit pills. The manufacturing process for these pills makes them appear like legitimate prescription drugs.Â
It’s easy for drug dealers to take advantage of social media to market and sell illegal drugs, specifically to young people. If an adolescent wants to purchase Adderall or OxyContin without a prescription, they can find a supplier through Snapchat using various emoji codes.
Buying prescription drugs illegally is bad enough, but these young people may not know their supposed OxyContin tablet is actually an illegally manufactured duplicate containing fentanyl.
Federal authorities have been investigating sales of illegal fentanyl-laced drugs via social media platforms, including Snapchat. The Department of Justice and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have made it a priority to bring awareness to fentanyl overdoses and prosecute individuals who have used social media outlets like Snapchat to distribute these drugs.
How Snapchat Connects Children with Drug Dealers
Snapchat’s “Snap Map” allows users to find their friends. This feature has taken a darker turn as drug dealers have access to the location of young people in their areas. This allows them to target adolescents and locate them for drug deals.
Not only can dealers use Snapchat to find customers, but young people can also use the application to seek out illicit drugs on their own. A Snapchat user can simply access the Snap Map to find someone posting about their illicit supplies. Children and young adults can discreetly contact those distributing illegal drugs and even get drugs delivered right to their front doors.Â
When drug dealers can directly contact and engage with children, all without a parent’s knowledge, it becomes clear Snapchat does not allow enough parental access or control to monitor minors’ use of the platform.
Is Snapchat Responsible for Fentanyl Deaths?
Snapchat’s lack of regulation and responsibility has contributed to overdose deaths by facilitating the sale of fentanyl-laced pills.
The features that make Snapchat so popular are also what make it prominent in the distribution of fentanyl-laced pills. These features include:
- Location finder: It’s easy for drug dealers to locate and target young people by their location in real-time.
- Vulnerable populations: Snapchat markets directly to young, easily influenced people, giving dealers a steady source of vulnerable customers.
- Limited supervision: Snapchat obstructs parental involvement and their ability to supervise their children’s online interactions.Â
- Creating a sense of dependency: Young people are especially vulnerable to social media and harmful online influences because their brains are not fully developed.
Recent Cases Filed Against Snapchat
While federal authorities are bringing criminal charges against those accused of drug dealing on social media platforms such as Snapchat, there are also civil fentanyl lawsuits against Snapchat’s parent company, Snap Inc.Â
The parents of many young people who died of overdoses from pills purchased through Snapchat filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court. According to the complaint, “Snapchat is the go-to means to distribute drugs to children, teens, and young adults through social media, and is involved in a far greater number of fentanyl poisoning deaths of U.S. teens than other social media apps.”
Unfortunately, Snapchat’s automatic deletion feature makes gathering evidence difficult.
Worse, technology companies argue they can’t be held liable because of Section 230, a federal law that provides immunity from civil lawsuits to online platforms for the content generated by their users. The plaintiffs in the fentanyl lawsuit allege that Snap, Inc. knew that it was facilitating drug sales and was dangerous for young people.
Political pressure and Snapchat class action lawsuits may help reduce the risks and stop the sale of illegal drugs to vulnerable young people, but it is unclear how quickly change will come.
Can I file a lawsuit against Snapchat for fentanyl poisoning?
If you are the parent of a child who overdosed on fentanyl purchased using the Snapchat platform, get help today.Â
Our mission at Cutter Law is to hold social media platforms accountable for the harm they are doing to young people. Contact us at Cutter Law to see how we can bring justice and prevent Snapchat from facilitating more untimely deaths. We offer free consultations and don’t get paid unless you do.
FAQs
What Is Snapchat's Role in the Fentanyl Crisis?
Snapchat is a popular social media platform, particularly among young people, for facilitating sales of fentanyl-laced illegal drugs. Some of these sales have led to the deaths of young people taking these drugs. Drug dealers find Snapchat an easy way to target young people because of its location finder, auto-erasing messages, and lack of parental controls.
Did the FBI Investigate Snapchat's Role in the Fentanyl Crisis?
In early 2023, the FBI and the Department of Justice opened an investigation into sales of illegal drugs conducted through Snapchat that resulted in fatal overdoses. Federal agencies, state attorney generals’ offices, and the courts are addressing this emerging crisis.
What Drugs Are Laced with Fentanyl?
Drug cartels produce illegal counterfeit drugs to look like prescription drugs. The Drug Enforcement Administration provides parents with resources, including comparisons of real versus counterfeit pills. These illegal manufacturers design the pills to look like OxyContin, Adderall, and Xanax. DEA testing shows that almost half of the counterfeit drugs contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl.Â
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