Parents Sue Snapchat Alleging Its Responsibility For 12-Year-Old’s Rape
Parents of a Missouri teenager sued Snapchat's parent company, Snap, Wednesday alleging the platform bears some responsibility for their 12-year-old daughter's rape.
Parents of a Missouri teenager sued Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, Wednesday alleging the platform bears some responsibility for their 12-year-old daughter’s rape.
Social Media Victims Law Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs alleging that the social media company has refused to disable dangerous features or warn parents of the harm they could cause, according to CBS.
“This assault did not happen in a vacuum- it happened because Snapchat’s product design made it easy for a predator to reach out and manipulate an unsuspecting child,” Matthew Bergman, founder of Social Media Victims Law Center said, according to the outlet. “Snap executives have long known that their features create a perfect environment for predators to exploit children, yet they have repeatedly failed to make the platform safe.”
“We care deeply about the safety and well-being of all Snapchatters, and our teams have worked for years to build safeguards, launch safety tutorials, partner with experts, and work with law enforcement to help prevent the misuse of our platform,” a Snap Company spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement sent after publication.
The minor victim, referred to by the initials J.F. in the lawsuit, began using Snapchat in 2021 when she was 11 years old. The app requires users to be at least 13, however, the girl could not remember the date she used to bypass the age requirement, according to Fox5.
A year later, Snapchat allegedly began recommending defendant Gabriel Joel Valentin-Rios to the victim and her friends — even though they did not have any connections with him in real life. After becoming friends on the app, Valentin-Rios began sending unsolicited nudes to the victim, the lawsuit stated, according to CBS.
“J.F. did not want these photographs and, at first, did not reciprocate but Snapchat’s design product made it impossible for J.F. to avoid such explicit content,” the lawsuit says, according to the outlet.