Florida sues Snapchat over features the state alleges are designed to be addictive to children

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued the social media app Snapchat this week over the app's features he alleges are designed to be addictive to young users.

The attorney general argued the features violate a state law that went into effect this year, House Bill 3, which establishes certain online protections for minors. The bill was passed last year and signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Uthmeier’s office alleged in the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday, that Snapchat’s features for infinite scrolling, autoplay videos, push notifications and interactive metrics violate the state law, because they constitute “addictive design features."

“The harms visited on young people by compulsive use of social media are a direct result of the intentional design choices of the owners of certain social media platforms, including Snap,” the suit stated. 

The attorney general's office also accused the company of deceiving parents about the safety of its platform, by marketing its app as safe for users under 13. The state law prohibits social media platforms from allowing accounts for users under 13-years-old and requires platforms to get parental permission to allow accounts for users 14 or 15 years old.

“Snap, Inc. has acknowledged in other litigation that it is subject to HB 3, yet is openly defying Florida law,” Uthmeier’s office said in a news release. “Snap continues to market Snapchat in Florida as safe for users as young as 13, even though it knows that Snapchat can be easily used to access pornography and buy drugs, among many other dangers."

A spokesperson for the social media company criticized the law in a statement to The Hill, claiming it does not "adequately address age verification" requirements, and poses privacy concerns.

“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,” the spokesperson said.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.