Snap Inc.

In January 2026, Snap Inc. settled a bellwether case just days before trial, in which a 19-year-old woman and her mother alleged she developed mental health problems after becoming addicted to Snapchat. The suit accused Snapchat of engineering features like infinite scroll, Snapstreaks, and recommendation algorithms that made the app nearly impossible for kids to stop using, leading to depression, eating disorders, and self-harm. The settlement terms were confidential. The broader MDL included over 2,243 plaintiffs as of January 2026.

Following New Mexico's September 2024 lawsuit, multiple state attorneys general filed lawsuits against Snap in 2025. Florida AG sued in April 2025 alleging failure to protect children from predators and drug dealers. Utah AG sued in June 2025 alleging the app enabled sexual exploitation and digital addiction, with My AI chatbot advising minors on concealing drugs and alcohol. Kansas AG sued in September 2025 alleging Snap misrepresented app safety with '12+' ratings while exposing users to mature content. NYC sued in October 2025 alleging gross negligence.

Attorney General filed lawsuit after investigation revealed Snapchat received 10,000 sextortion reports monthly by late 2022 but failed to act. Internal surveys showed 70% of victims didn't report knowing Snap wouldn't take action.

Snap published its 2024 Diversity Annual Report outlining goals to increase underrepresented U.S. racial and ethnic groups to 20% and increase women and underrepresented groups in leadership by 30% by 2025. The company supported 9+ Employee Resource Groups, partnered with UC Santa Barbara and USC for a first-of-its-kind representation audit of partnered content, committed to 50% diverse leads/showrunners in Snap Originals, and invested in the 523 program for Black creators. The company has a dedicated VP of DEI (Oona King).

In February 2024, Snap laid off approximately 530 employees (10% of workforce), estimating $55-75M in severance costs. The layoffs included senior staff and notably affected HR employees working on internal diversity analytics, employee surveys, and hiring efforts aimed at diverse talent. CEO Evan Spiegel cited the need to reduce hierarchy and promote in-person collaboration. This followed a smaller round in November 2023 cutting about 20 product managers.

Relatives of over 60 young people who died from fentanyl overdoses sued Snap Inc., alleging Snapchat's disappearing messages feature facilitated illegal drug trade targeting minors. Victims included Cooper Root (16, Texas), Donevan Hester (16, Washington), and Nicholas Cruz Burris (15, Kansas). In January 2024, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff allowed the lawsuit to proceed, overruling Snap's objections to 12 claims including negligence, defective product, and wrongful death. Internal Snap emails cited in court noted the company received approximately 10,000 sextortion reports per month, described as 'only a fraction of the total abuse.'

In September 2023, Snap introduced new safety features for 13-17 year olds including stronger friending protections requiring mutual connections, in-app warnings when teens receive messages from blocked/reported users or users from unexpected regions, location-sharing reminders, and expanded parental controls via Family Center. Snap also launched Safety Snapshot episodes on sextortion and grooming reviewed by NCMEC, and reported that Trust and Safety teams had more than doubled since 2020.

Snap launched its My AI chatbot to all Snapchat users in April 2023, including teens. Washington Post and other investigations found the chatbot gave a user posing as a 13-year-old suggestions on lying to parents about a trip with a 31-year-old man, advice on losing virginity, and tips on hiding alcohol and marijuana. The FTC referred a complaint to the DOJ in January 2025 over risks to young users. The UK ICO issued a preliminary enforcement notice in October 2023 for inadequate data protection risk assessment. My AI was pinned above real friends in the chat feed and automatically enabled for all users.

In January 2023, Snap launched its Privacy and Safety Hub (values.snap.com), a centralized resource for privacy and safety materials. The company restricted users under 18 from creating public profiles, defaulted teen accounts to friend-only communication, redesigned its Privacy Policy for clarity with plain language and summaries, and partnered with IAPP and Future Privacy Forum on privacy education tools. In 2024, Snap further updated its privacy policy to lead with user data controls for access, download, and deletion.

On January 13, 2021, Snap permanently banned Donald Trump's account, effective on Inauguration Day (January 20). The company cited "public safety" and Trump's "attempts to spread misinformation, hate speech, and incite violence."

In June 2020, Snap stopped amplifying President Trump's content to broader audiences on its Discover page. CEO Evan Spiegel said the company was 'exercising its First Amendment right' and that if Trump wanted to promote violence and racism on Twitter, Snapchat didn't need to amplify those views. Trump's campaign called Spiegel 'radical' in response.