Gov. Spencer Cox and Attorney General Derek Brown have sued Snapchat on behalf of Utahns, accusing the social media platform of designing its app to be addictive to children and facilitating drug sales and sexual exploitation.
“Utah is taking a stand to protect our kids in an increasingly digital world,” Cox said in a statement. “This lawsuit against Snap is about accountability and about drawing a clear line: the well-being of our children must come before corporate profits.”
It is the fourth lawsuit the state has filed against social media companies. Previously, it has made similar allegations against Meta — owner of Facebook and Instagram — and TikTok.
The state’s suit alleges that Snapchat’s image-sharing — where pictures disappear after they are viewed — was designed to entice youth to check the app more often and gave parents a false sense of security. In the meantime, it says, predators took screen captures of images to extort and sexually exploit young people.
Specifically, the suit mentions four cases since 2021 in which men sexually abused or assaulted young people they solicited through the app. It also points to a 2019 bust of a drug ring operated through Snapchat.
“Snap’s commitment to user safety is an illusion,” the state’s lawsuit claims. “Its app is not safe, it is dangerous.”
A spokesperson for Snap Inc., the publicly traded company that owns Snapchat, said that the company “has no higher priority than the safety of Snapchatters.”
“We are committed to making Snapchat a safe and fun environment for our community, and have built privacy and safety features into our service from the start,” the company statement said.
The spokesperson noted that Utah’s social media safety law was blocked last year by the courts because it likely violated the Constitution’s free speech protections.
“Now, unable to accept the court’s rejection of the state’s legislation, the Utah attorney general is resorting to civil litigation as a means to circumvent the court and impose age verification requirements and age-related restrictions in ways that are unconstitutional,” the company said.
Utah lawsuit against Snapchat by Robert Gehrke on Scribd
The lawsuit, filed in 3rd District Court, asks the judge to issue an injunction prohibiting Snapchat from engaging in deceptive sales practices and requiring it to comply with Utah’s data privacy laws. It also asks for the court to force the company to surrender revenue generated through violations of those state laws.
The state is also seeking damages, civil penalties and attorneys’ fees related to the lawsuit.
“Snapchat’s features facilitate sexual predators and drug dealers’ efforts to target and exploit children,” Brown said in a statement. “We will continue to do everything in our power to protect Utah kids from exploitation.”
The state alleges that Snapchat intentionally got kids hooked on the app — employing “Snapstreaks” that encourage users to post every day and adding new filters and artificial intelligence features — contributing to harm to youths’ mental health. In 2021, the state said, more than half of high school females reported feeling sad or hopeless.
It also cited a study done by Thorn, a nonprofit that aims to end child sex abuse, that found that 16% of minors on Snapchat report having had an online sexual interaction.
An investigation by the Utah Division of Consumer Protection set up test accounts with reported ages set to 13 and 15 and reported receiving “highly sexual and not age-appropriate” video recommendations, including videos of a man undressing, images of drugs and videos from the platform OnlyFans.
