Snapchat fentanyl death overview:
- Who: Snap Inc., owner of Snapchat, is facing a lawsuit over children who died after fentanyl overdoses from pills they purchased from other Snapchat users.
- Why: Snapchat must face 12 complaints of 16 that were filed with four demurrers from the defense successful, a Superior Court judge ruled.
- Where: The Snapchat lawsuit is in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. must face 12 complaints from parents who claim their children died from fentanyl overdoses after purchasing drugs over Snapchat.
Snapchat has become popular for selling illicit drugs, the Snapchat lawsuit says. And while Snapchat attempted to have all 16 complaints demurred, stating the allegations did not create a “cause of action.”
But 12 of the 16 complaints were allowed to continue, Superior Court Judge Lawrence P. Riff said.
“Despite Snap promoting and portraying Snapchat as a ‘goofy’ app for kids to use to send each other silly pictures, its known common use is an ‘open air drug market,’” the fentanyl lawsuit says. “As detailed below, 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.”
Snapchat denied changes as drug sales boomed on site, fentanyl lawsuit says
Snapchat did not adjust after illicit drug sales and fentanyl poisoning rose and instead created a “concerted corporate campaign” to delay and dissuade legal action, the fentanyl lawsuit says.
The dismissed claims that allow for amending were regarding tortious interference of parental rights, public nuisance, aiding and abetting and loss of consortium and society. The remaining complaints include wrongful death, negligent representation, strict liability, defective design and negligence.
YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram were the most used social media platforms by teens in the U.S. this year, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center.
Have you ever encountered an attempted drug sale on Snapchat? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Laura Marquez-Garrett, Matthew Bergman and Sydney Lottes of the Social Media Vic!ms Law Center and Carrie Goldberg, Naomi Leeds and Hannah Meropol of C.A. Goldberg PLLC, according to Law360.
Snapchat is represented by Jessica L. Grant of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP and Michael Burshteyn, Ernesto Rojas Guzman, Jus!n Kareem Rezkalla, Marcus Kennedy-Grimes, J. Alexander Lawrence and Tamara Wiesebron of Morrison Foerster LLP, the website said.
The Snapchat fentanyl death lawsuit is Neville, et al. v. Snap Inc., Case No. 22STCV33500, in the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles.
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
