PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc., the parent company of social media app Snapchat, over concerns it has misled parents about the app’s suitability for kids and has encouraged a harmful atmosphere for young users.
Attorney General Dave Sunday said the suit accuses Snap of violating Pennsylvania consumer protection laws by being dishonest about content that includes sex, drug use, and suicidal ideations on the app to get a 13+ age rating.
He said the goal is not to replace the role of parents in decision-making, but to make sure they have proper information to make those decisions. “If apps are misleading parents about how those very apps work, how can they make sound decisions for their children? They can't,” he said.
“When big tech misleads parents into thinking their platforms are safe for children, they are risking the safety and the well-being of our most precious responsibility.”
Sunday argued Snapchat encourages addictive use of the platform by essentially punishing users who don’t sign on every day, and making messages disappear after 24 hours if they aren’t read.
“Snapchat ingrains in our kids' mentality,” he said. “The more I am on Snap, the more friends I will have, and the more socially accepted I will be. That exploits the fear of missing out culture to the absolute extreme.”
In addition, Sunday said, Snapchat’s disappearing messages lead kids to post things they shouldn’t and creates an environment perfect for child predators to groom victims or for cyberbullying.
The legal action comes on the heels of a lawsuit against TikTok two weeks ago that alleged similar marketing techniques.
The suit comes 2 weeks after similar litigation filed against TikTok
The suit comes 2 weeks after similar litigation filed against TikTok
