The state of Florida is suing Snap, the parent company of social media app Snapchat, for allegedly getting minors hooked to the platform and deceiving parents about its dangers.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) announced the lawsuit Tuesday. The complaint accuses Snapchat of violating Florida H.B. 3, the state’s law banning children under 14 from having social media accounts and requiring parental permission for 14 and 15 year olds.
“We take the safety and security of children very seriously, and as part of our mission to make Florida the best place to raise a family, we are holding social media platforms that harm children accountable,” Uthmeier said in a statement.
“Snap is deceiving Florida parents about the dangers children face on the app, from behavioral addictive features to allowing sexual predators and drug dealers access, and we cannot allow this deception to continue.”
The lawsuit also alleges Snapchat violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, a law that protects customers from unethical and dishonest business practices.
Florida alleges Snapchat allowed users under 14 to make accounts without parental consent and got minors addicted to the app with features such as push notifications, Snapchat streaks, endless scrolling, interactive metrics, and autoplay videos, all of which can lead to addiction and exposure to pornographic content.
“In today’s digital age, navigating the vast landscape of online interactions can pose significant risks for our youth. Attorney General Uthmeier recognizes that Florida’s children are the future of our community and our most precious asset,” said Bob Cunningham, director of policy engagement for the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
“General Uthmeier’s focus on protecting children from inappropriate content and the threats posed by child predators demonstrates a profound understanding of their vulnerability and the imperative need to keep them safe online.”
Florida’s lawsuit questions the effectiveness of Snapchat’s parental controls and argues that Snapchat is misleading consumers by rating its app 12+ and “T for teen” on the major app stores. The ratings are deceptive because of Snapchat’s psychologically harmful features and the prevalence of mature and dangerous content on the platform, the suit alleges.
Snapchat lenses, its photo filters that alter a user’s appearance in photos, and friend solar system, a friend evaluation tool, are both features of the app that Florida considers harmful to children’s body image and self esteem.
“It is indisputable that social media is hurting our kids’ mental and physical health. Beyond the broad challenges young people face with the intentionally addictive nature of the platforms, Snapchat has allowed poor safety measures and inadequate parental controls to put our kids at risk,” said Alleigh Marre, executive director of American Parents Coalition.
“From sexual predators to drug dealers, to pornography, Snapchat’s leadership is aware of the risks associated with the platform, especially for young people, but they’ve put profit ahead of protection. Parents are tired of being misled by Big Tech and we applaud Attorney General Uthmeier’s action.”
Snapchat initially became known for allowing users to easily send each other pictures of themselves with messages attached. The app also pioneered the stories feature, a form of temporary posting that is available for social media friends to click on for 24 hours before it disappears.
Snapchat stories were quickly replicated by Instagram and other platforms as the app’s success diminished. It remains a popular platform with Millennials and Generation Z, but much less so than TikTok and additional competitors. A Pew Research survey from 2024 found that 55 percent of teenagers aged 13-17 use Snapchat, with 48 percent of them using it daily.
“This law does not adequately address age verification and infringes on the First Amendment rights of adults and young people while also opening Floridians up to data protection and privacy issues,” a Snap company spokesperson said in a statement about H.B. 3 and the lawsuit.
“We believe there are more privacy-conscious solutions to online safety and managing age verification, including at the operating system, app store, or device level. In addition, there is a current challenge to the constitutionality of this law pending in Florida federal court, and we hoped that the state would allow this challenge to proceed through the proper legal process. Unfortunately, they’ve decided to file a complaint in state court in an attempt to bypass the issues that are already being heard in federal court.”
Snap has supported other legislative measures to enact federal age verification and create a safer social media environment for teenagers. Utah’s App Store Accountability Act and the Kids Online Safety Act, a bipartisan bill that easily passed the Senate last year, are two examples of legislation Snap has gotten behind.