Snap(chat) accused of addicting children and deceiving parents, Florida lawsuit says

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, is facing a lawsuit by Florida’s top attorney over accusations that its popular among teens instant messaging app causes addiction in children and deceives their parents.

The Florida Attorney General’s office, led by James Uthmeier, announced the lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging that Snapchat’s features are addictive to children and knowingly allows children age 13 and younger to open accounts.

The features, including infinite scrolling, push notifications, auto-play videos, and metrics that provide user feedback, violate a 2024 state law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, and designed to protect children's mental health from compulsive social media exposure, the complaint states. Uthmeier and DeSantis are Republicans.

The HB3 bill, signed into law last March, not only prohibits all Floridians ages 13 and under from opening any social media account, but also required any current accounts at the time to be terminated by January 1st of this year when the law took effect. The controversial bill also requires kids aged 14 and 15 to have parental consent to maintain an active social media account.

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, Uthmeier posted on X.

"Snapchat 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 said.

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.

Snapchat is deceiving Florida parents about the dangers children face… pic.twitter.com/3RpuGJ0F1e

undefined Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) April 22, 2025

Florida called Snap's conduct "particularly egregious" because the Santa Monica, California-based company markets Snapchat as safe for 13-year-olds though it can be used to view pornography and buy drugs, among other harmful activities.

By failing to remove 13-year-old users and require parental consent for 14- and 15-year-old users, "Snap is actively deceiving Florida parents about the risks of allowing their teens to access this platform," the complaint said.

The complaint was filed in a Santa Rosa County state court, in the state's panhandle.

In a statement, Snap said that Florida's law infringes upon the First Amendment constitutional rights of both adults and children.

Snap also argues that there are "more privacy-conscious solutions" at the operating system, app store, and device levels to address online safety and age verification.

Two technology industry trade groups, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, are challenging the constitutionality of the Florida law in the federal court in Tallahassee, the state's capital.

The case is Florida v Snap Inc, Florida Circuit Court, Santa Rosa County, No. 25000258CAAXMX.