Snapchat Sued By Texas Attor­ney Gen­er­al Over Addictive Features, Child Safety

• AG Paxton alleged that Snap recommends or exposes users, including teenagers, to explicit and mature content, including profanity, sexual content or nudity, alcohol, tobacco, and drug use or references.
• The lawsuit cites multiple other features of the app that allegedly drive compulsive use among minors, harming their mental and physical health.
• AG Paxton has previously sued other big tech and social media companies, including Char​ac​ter​.AI, Red­dit, Insta­gram, Dis­cord, TikTok, and Roblox.

Snapchat's parent company Snap Inc. (SNAP) is facing another lawsuit, this time from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, over failing to warn parents and consumers sufficiently about the inappropriate material on its app, as well as its addictive design.

In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday morning with the District Court of Collin County, Texas, AG Paxton alleged that the social media company knowingly misrepresented Snapchat’s safety to parents and consumers, and promoted it as safe for use by children with '12+' age ratings on app stores.

“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,” said Attorney General Paxton.

Shares of SNAP were down almost 4% at the time of writing.

What Are The Allegations?

AG Paxton alleged in the lawsuit that Snap recommends or exposes users, including teenagers, to explicit and mature content, including profanity, sexual content or nudity, alcohol, tobacco, and drug use or references.

The lawsuit cites multiple other features of the app, including features such as ephemeral content, infinite scroll, push notifications, autoplay, “Snapscores,” and “Snapstreaks” that allegedly drive compulsive use among minors, harming their mental and physical health.

AG Paxton is seeking civil penalties and a permanent injunction under Texas consumer protection laws to halt what he stated were “false, misleading, and deceptive representations.”

“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 Texas Attorney General said.

AG Paxton has previously sued other big tech and social media companies, including Char​ac​ter​.AI, Red­dit, Insta­gram, Dis­cord, TikTok, and Roblox.

Meanwhile, Snap reached an undisclosed settlement last month in a social media addiction civil lawsuit brought by a 19-year-old plaintiff who alleged the platform’s algorithmic design harmed her mental health. The settlement was reported just days before the case was set to go to trial in Los Angeles, California. 

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SNAP shares remained in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours amid ‘extremely high’ message volumes.

Shares of SNAP have declined more than 53% in the past year.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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