Snapchat hit with lawsuit for exposing minors to sexually explicit content

Snapchat has been hit with a lawsuit by a 14 year old and his mother for the claims that the stories on Snapchat’s Discover channel are overly obscene and sexually explicit. According to the mum and son, minors who use the app are subject to perverted content without any warnings. One of the examples highlighted in the complaint was an article from Buzzfeed that read, “23 Pictures That Are Too Real If You’ve Ever Had Sex With A Penis.” Another article presented in the complaint is one titled, “F#ck Buddies Talk About How They Kept It Casual,” and since there’s really no control of what can and can’t be seen on the Discover sections, minors unwillingly access these stories.

The lawsuit pertains to the violation of the Communications Decency Act, which is evident in Snapchat allowing these adult-geared stories to exist without any warning. Furthermore, the act comes with a separate penalty that must be paid in $50,000 USD per violation. With this suit, the aim is to ensure that the app’s policies are changed to ensure that warnings are given to the minors in question to ensure they are not hit of the blue with any inappropriate content.

Source: PC World