Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is facing allegations from the state of New Mexico over its handling of sextortion risks, raising questions about the platform’s safety measures for its young user base. The lawsuit accuses Snap of prioritising growth over user safety by failing to address or disclose features that make the platform vulnerable to predators.
In a 2022 analysis, Snap reportedly received 10,000 sextortion reports each month. However, the company acknowledged that this figure might represent only a small fraction of the actual cases, as many victims are reluctant to report the abuse, reports WSJ.
Another internal study in 2023 found that 70% of sextortion victims did not report the incidents, and in the cases where they did, Snap had not taken action.
Snap defended its platform in response to the lawsuit, with a spokesperson emphasising the company’s efforts to create a safe environment for communication among close friends.
They pointed out safety features that make it challenging for strangers to connect with minors. Snap also highlighted its support for federal child safety legislation, stating, “We care deeply about our work here, and it pains us when bad actors abuse our service.”
However, the lawsuit alleges that Snap’s disappearing message and other design elements may give users a false sense of security, particularly around intimate content. A 2022 presentation to the company raised concerns that the platforms’ ephemeral nature might encourage inappropriate behaviour.
Internal marketing documents from that year also admitted that sexting had become a common practice among Generation Z users.
Despite these concerns, the company faced a dilemma in addressing sexting risks without alienating its user base or being perceived as complicit in inappropriate content.
Snap acknowledged that simply warning users not to send explicit photos was unlikely to be effective, and it could not provide detailed advice on how to avoid identification in such photos.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres criticised Snap’s response to these issues, arguing that the lawsuit exposes the problem’s scale and the company’s failure to market a safe product.
“Snapchat’s harmful design features create an environment that fosters sextortion, sexual abuse, and unwanted contact from adults to minors,” Torres stated, expressing frustration that internal concerns had been repeatedly ignored.
Snap had claimed to have made changes to its platform to improve safety, including modifications to its ‘Quick Add’ feature, which suggests new connections to users. However, investigators from New Mexico found that a fictitious 14-year-old account created for testing still received sexually explicit messages from strangers, undermining Snap’s public assurances about the feature’s safety.
In one case cited in the lawsuit, a man was convicted of assaulting an 11-year-old he met through Snapchat’s Quick Add feature. Internal documents from Snap acknowledged that addressing the issue of child grooming would result in high administrative costs, which the company considered disproportionate.
The lawsuit also accuses Snap of introducing features that exacerbated insecurities among young users and facilitated sextortion. Features like QR codes for sharing contact information and the ‘My Eyes Only’ folder, which allowed users to store private photos, were flagged as problematic.
The state urges that these features encourage users to spend more time on the platform while diminishing their ability to self-regulate their behaviour.
Social media platforms have been known not to take their users’ privacy seriously. Last month, TikTok was sued in the United States for violating child privacy laws.
Similarly, in April 2024, four Canadian school boards sued Snapchat for affecting teenage mental health.
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