Snapchat Lawsuit

Parents of children and teens are suing Snap, Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, for contributing to an ongoing mental health crisis. The litigation against Snap, Inc. is just one part of many lawsuits pending against social media platforms and their parent companies. 

Plaintiffs’ attorneys allege that Snapchat doesn’t: 

• Have adequate parental controls 
• Implement safety features to protect children
• Provide adequate warnings to families about the health risks of using Snapchat

By failing to address these issues, Snapchat puts young account holders at risk of mental health problems, online predators, drug use and other dangers associated with social media addiction.

The lawsuits claim that Snap, Inc., knew how its social media app could affect teens and children but took no action to protect them.

Multidistrict litigation consolidates Snapchat lawsuits 

Hundreds of parents have filed social media lawsuits against Snapchat on behalf of their children. It’s likely that more parents will file lawsuits. To handle the growing number of cases, the U.S. courts have organized them into a type of mass tort called multidistrict litigation (MDL).

As of November 2024, there are 620 cases pending in the MDL, known as In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3047). Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers oversees the MDL in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.

You might be eligible to file a Snapchat lawsuit if you meet these criteria:

• You’re an adult (18 or older) who was harmed as a minor (17 or younger). As an adult, you can file suit on your own behalf. 
• You’re the parent or legal guardian of someone who was harmed by using Snapchat. Harms can include mental health problems, physical injury, drug use recovery, self-harm and death. 

A Snapchat lawyer at Motley Rice can provide a case evaluation.

More than 200 school districts in the U.S. have filed suits against social media companies. They allege that Google, Snap, Inc., Meta, ByteDance and other tech companies have contributed to a student mental health crisis. This wave of lawsuits started when public schools in Seattle filed suit in 2023.

Like the individual lawsuits, the school lawsuits allege that social media companies made their products addictive to drive advertising revenue. The school districts claim this leads to poor student behavior, such as property damage, bullying and exhausted students. Dealing with these issues exhausts school resources. 

The school lawsuits focus on the impact to educators and the education system rather than the individual harms done to minor social media users. Districts might be eligible to file a claim if they have faced increased costs as a result of:

• Investigating threats made on social media against schools or individuals
• Providing additional counseling services to help students cope with social media-related mental health harms
• Repairing damage from vandals or social media challenges
• Spending extra time reworking lesson plans to accommodate shorter student attention spans
• Training faculty and staff about how social media impacts students.

These cases are mainly filed as public nuisance claims, alleging that taxpayer dollars and district resources have been expended on the social media crisis.

Government agencies have reacted to possible harm from Snapchat. Here are some important actions taken by government agencies and elected officials. These actions are not related to the federal MDL.

New Mexico sues Snapchat

The state of New Mexico filed a lawsuit against Snapchat in September 2024. Attorney General Raul Torrez alleged that the app’s policies and features don’t protect children from sexual exploitation. 

Torrez cited concerns about “sextortion.” In this situation, a Snapchat user coerces a minor to send them sexually explicit images and blackmails the victim with the content. 

Senators pass social media protection bills

In July 2024, the U.S. Senate passed a package of bills to force social media companies to enhance protections for young users and implement more effective parental controls. The Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act establish mandates that could:

• Add privacy protection for account holders under 17
• Allow parents to erase content as they see fit
• Make social media companies take “reasonable measures” to protect children
• Provide more effective parental controls
• Prevent targeted advertising to children

State attorneys general call for social media protection

In 2022, 44 state attorneys general made a nonpartisan appeal to Snapchat to empower parents to protect their children. The letter expresses concerns about the “Discover” and “For You” sections on Snapchat. These features can allow adults to connect with minors on the platform, which adds to the risk of minors being groomed or exposed to illegal drugs.

Snapchat is a social media app for Android and iOS mobile devices. It allows people to chat with each other with pictures or short videos called “snaps.” These messages are temporary and disappear soon after they’re posted or viewed. 

The temporary nature of snaps can lead users to compulsively check the app. This intentional design keeps users addicted, according to lawsuits against Snap, Inc.

Snapchat attracts a young user group: Gen Z is the largest demographic in the U.S. using the platform, with 48.6 million users. Gen Z uses Snapchat more than other social media platforms. 

Snapchat features that contribute to mental health issues

Snapchat’s features encourage compulsive use and reckless behavior by children, whose young brains crave social connection and approval. These features include:

• Beauty filters: Snapchat’s filters allow users to create impossibly idealized versions of themselves These filters are highly associated with negative body image. So much so that the term “Snapchat dysmorphia” has been coined to describe the warped effect the app’s various filters have on young people. This dysmorphia has even led to an increase in requests for plastic surgeons to make users look like the filtered self they see on social media.
• Disappearing messages: The primary use of the Snapchat app is to send photos and videos that are only viewable for short amounts of time. While this feature quickly made Snapchat known as “the sexting app,” even innocuous messages quickly disappear. As a result, many children constantly worry that they are missing out on what is happening on the app and compulsively check it. This effect is often called FOMO (fear of missing out).
• Quick Add: A feature intended to recommend new friends, Quick Add makes friends suggestions based on mutual interests, friends, interests and location. Until 2022, Quick Add recommended that minors and adults follow each other on Snapchat. Plaintiffs’ attorneys allege that this allowed drug dealers to sell drugs to kids. An NBC investigation found that Snapchat was connected to sales of fentanyl-laced pills. These transactions led to the deaths of teens in young adults in several states.
• Snap Map: With Snap Map, users can share their location. The feature provides a color-coded heat map. Snap Map is available to minors by default, though users can turn it off. It allows potential predators to know a child’s location and can make a user sad or anxious when comparing their location to where their friends are at any time. 
• Snap Stories: The plaintiffs’ allege the Snapchat feature is designed to trigger the release of dopamine. It shows a running view count and a list of who has viewed the user’s story. This also encourages users to make their Stories visible to increase their view count. 
• Snapstreak. Users achieve a Snapstreak, signified by a special icon on the app, when they snap each other within 24-hour periods for three or more days in a row. But if they miss even one day, the streak goes away. This gamification of friendship can create “feelings of pressure, anxiety and compulsion.”

Research shows that Snapchat’s features are associated with common social media harms such as: 

• Anxiety
• Conduct disorders
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Low self-esteem 
• Poor impulse control
• Self-harm
• Sleep disorders
• Suicidal ideation

Studies show that teens who spend more than three hours daily on social media apps are twice as likely to develop mental health issues. But some issues, such as danger from online predators, may not be related solely to the amount of time spent on social media apps. 

Consider these examples of how Snapchat can lead to mental health issues: 

• Striving for idealized images. Snapchat’s filters allow users to present an idealized version of themselves. This encourages damaging body image comparisons and can make children feel worse about their appearances. 
• Danger from online predators. Features such as disappearing messages and Quick Add can help online predators and drug dealers connect with minor account holders. Connecting minor and adult users can lead to grooming and other forms of sexual abuse, which can lead to long-lasting trauma. Likewise, drug use can lead to mental and physical harm for children. 
• Chasing dopamine. Disappearing messages, Snapstreaks and push notifications induce users’ brains to produce dopamine. This compels account holders – especially children – to use the app frequently. This preys on their fear of missing out (FOMO), which can lead to mental health problems.  
• Negative social comparison. Snapchat’s filters and Snap Stories lead to users comparing their appearances, surroundings and other circumstances to each other. This can lead to sadness and loneliness if users feel that other people's lives are better. 

Learn more about whether Snapchat is safe for kids.

Is there a mental health lawsuit against Snapchat?

Yes, individuals are suing Snap, Inc. and other social media companies. They allege that social media companies built features into their platforms, knowing they were a risk to users’ mental health. 

As of January 2025, there were 974 lawsuits, and that number is expected to grow. To ease the strain on the court system and allow plaintiffs to share resources, these cases were organized into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) docket. 

Who is filing Snapchat mental health lawsuits?

Snapchat and its parent company, Snap Inc., are facing a number of lawsuits in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) related to the app’s addictive design and the alleged harm it causes children. The parties filing these individual lawsuits include:

• Parents of children who have been harmed by Snapchat
• Adults who were harmed as children by Snapchat
• School districts that allege they have suffered costs and damages as a result of Snapchat

What damages may be available in a Snapchat mental health lawsuit?

If your attorney wins a jury trial or negotiates a settlement, you may receive compensation for:

• Emotional distress
• Expenses for physical or mental treatment
• Loss of income
• Physical pain and suffering

No cases in the Snapchat mental lawsuits have gone to trial or settled, so it’s not possible to estimate an average payout. The damages you might receive would depend on your individual circumstances. 

A Motley Rice Snapchat attorney can explore your options.

Are people suing Snapchat for reasons other than mental health harm? 

Snap, Inc. faces legal actions that are not related to mental health. They include:

• New Mexico is suing Snap, Inc. for allegedly failing to protect children from potential sexual exploitation. The state attorney general filed the suit in September 2024, raising concerns about predators using sexually explicit images to extort more content or money from victims.
• Nevill et al v. Snap, Inc., which alleges that Snapchat features allowed children to buy drugs through the app. 
• A discrimination lawsuit that Snapchat recently offered to settle for $15 million. The class-action suit alleged that the company discriminated against female employees. The settlement requires court approval.
• A high school student who claims Snapchat allowed his science teacher to lure him into a sexual relationship. The teacher pleaded guilty to sexual assault in 2022. The student’s attorneys are asking the Supreme Court to reconsider a law that shields social media companies from responsibility for user-generated content. 
• A class action lawsuit alleging that Snap violated state privacy law. Plaintiffs accused Snap of collecting biometric data in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. Snap settled the class-action lawsuit without going to trial.

Have any Snapchat class action lawsuits been filed?

Yes, but it wasn't related to mental health or social media addiction. In May 2022, a class action lawsuit against Snap Inc. (Boone, et al. v. Snap Inc.) was filed in Illinois. The lawsuit alleged that Snapchat collected facial recognition data with its filters and lenses, but didn’t tell users about the collection or get permission first. Snap agreed to a settlement, so the class action lawsuit did not go to trial.

Motley Rice attorneys have worked for decades to help families and individuals stand up to multinational tech companies. Our experience includes representing people harmed by technology and social media companies, such as Snap Inc. Our firm can help if you or your child have:

• Attempted or died by suicide
• Been diagnosed by a healthcare professional for a mental health disorder
• Treated for self-harm

If you believe these conditions were caused or worsened by social media, our firm can help you file a lawsuit for social media harm. Your well-being is important to our team.

Read more about our social media litigation experience.

Help for self-harm and suicidal behavior

If you or a loved one are in crisis, national resources can help immediately.

• You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. This free and confidential call will connect you with a trained staff member. You can also visit their website: 988lifeline.org.
• You can contact the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) toll-free number at 1-800-931-2237. The association’s website can also direct you to resources at NationalEatingDisorders.org.