Snap Responds to Lawsuit by Suspending Two Partner Apps
Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake
One day after the family of Carson Bride filed suit against Snap Inc., accusing it of failing to protect the 16-year-old from cyberbullying, the Santa Monica-based company said it would suspend the anonymous messaging apps — YOLO and LMK — Bride was using before he killed himself.
"In light of the serious allegations raised by the lawsuit, and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the Snapchat community, we are suspending both YOLO and LMK's Snap Kit integrations while we investigate these claims," the company said in a statement.
Bride endured scores of lewd, mean-spirited messages from anonymous senders via the two apps on Snapchat, according to the lawsuit. Both apps have been integrated into Snapchat since 2019 through the company's Snap Kit software.
Snap representatives noted that Snap Kit apps like YOLO and LMK are not a default part of Snapchat, but rather must be downloaded by users.
They added Snap sets safety standards that Snap Kit partners must comply with, which include ostensible safeguards against cyberbullying of the sort to which Bride was subjected. Among other charges, the lawsuit alleges Snap fraudulently misrepresented its safeguards regarding Snap Kit, claiming the company did not live up to its own standards.
Correction: An earlier version of this post said Snapchat had banned the apps. YOLO and LMK have been suspended.
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Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake
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