Snapchat’s “Discover” page has reportedly offended a tween and his family, resulting in a class-action lawsuit.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a 14-year-old boy was named as the plaintiff in the suit that claims the app’s editorial partners expose minors to sexual content. Articles mentioned in the lawsuit were “10 Things He Thinks When He Can’t Make You Orgasm,” “I Got High, Blown, and Robbed When I Was a Pizza Delivery Guy” and “F**k Buddies Talk About How They Kept It Casual.”
Mark Geragos, a popular attorney who is semi-prominent talking head on the media circuit is now representing the teen known as John Doe and 150 million other Snapchat users in a complaint that alleges violations of the Communications Decency Act as well as other laws.
“While adults should be free to consume any of this material, and may themselves find it to be humorous and witty, the fact that Snapchat does not differentiate content offered to its minor users and adult users is problematic, and ultimately a violation of Federal and State consumer law,” states the lawsuit. “Compounding matters is that adult content and images appear to be directly marketed and advertised to minors based on the use of cartoons, childhood relatable images and very young looking models.”
The lawsuit would demand that Snapchat institutes a warning to users about adult content and an order that provides parents the ability to block such content. It also is trying to force the company to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising revenue plus compensatory damages.
A spokesperson for Snapchat responded to these allegations with, “We haven’t been served with a complaint in this lawsuit, but we are sorry if people were offended. Our Discover partners have editorial independence, which is something that we support.”