Florida sues Snapchat for ‘addictive design features,' failing to protect kids

Florida's attorney general is suing a popular social media app for breaking state law and for running a platform that is addicting for kids

A.G. James Uthmeyer announced the suit on Tuesday, accusing Snapchat of failing to put safety barriers up for children

He explains, 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. The lawsuit stems from Florida law, HB3, which identifies five addictive design features that social platforms typically use

In Snapchat's case, the court documents say they use at least four, including infinite scrolling, push notifications, personal interactive metrics, and video set to autoplay

Signed into law in 2024 and now in effect as of this year, if social media companies use any of these features, children under 14 are barred from using their platforms

It also puts in the added requirement that 14 and 15 year olds must receive parental consent before they can make an account

Court documents say Snapchat is a perfect hiding spot for sexual predators because messages pictures and videos immediately disappear once they viewed Not to mention children on the app won know what the content is until they open it

Uthmeyer writes, 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. He says ultimately the goal is to hold Snapchat accountable for their features and order them to put safeguards in place for users

A Snapchat spokesperson says 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

Adding, 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

Right now, a federal lawsuit is challenging the constitutionality of Florida's law, saying it reduces free speech and increases the potential of cybercrime

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey. For more fact-based, unbiased stories, download the Straight Arrow News mobile app today