A California judge allowed a lawsuit against Snap brought by the relatives of children who overdosed on drugs allegedly purchased using the app to proceed to trial in a ruling Tuesday.
Relatives of over 60 young people who died from fentanyl overdoses sued Snap in October 2022 over its messaging platform Snapchat’s disappearing message feature. An extended version of the complaint filed in April 2023 said that “Snap and Snapchat’s role in illicit drug sales to teens was the foreseeable result of the designs, structures, and policies Snap chose to implement to increase its revenues.”
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The complaint said that Snapchat’s disappearing messages allow those engaging in illegal conduct to obscure their actions. Social media companies have typically been shielded from many lawsuits under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a law that gives many online tech companies like Snap protection from legal claims stemming from activities that occur on their platforms. However, parts of this lawsuit appear to have sidestepped Section 230 for now.
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
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Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lawrence P. Riff overruled Snap’s objections to 12 claims in the suit alleging negligence, defective product, misrepresentation and wrongful death.
Snap spokesperson Ashley Adams said the company is “working diligently to stop drug dealers from abusing our platform, and deploy technologies to proactively identify and shut down dealers, support law enforcement efforts to help bring dealers to justice, and educate our community and the general public about the dangers of fentanyl.”
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