Utah accuses Snapchat of designing algorithm addictive to children

Top Utah officials are suing Snap Inc., which owns the social media platform Snapchat, and accusing it of creating an algorithm that makes the app addicting to children, as well as enabling the illegal sales of drugs and sexual exploitation.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox and state Attorney General Derek Brown filed the lawsuit Monday, saying Snap “profits from unconscionable design features created to addict children to the app, and facilitates illegal drug sales and sextortion.”

The image-sharing app allows users to send pictures that disappear after they are viewed, which the lawsuit states is a “favored tool for drug dealers and sexual predators targeting children.”

The lawsuit details four cases in which men groomed, sexually abused or assaulted children through Snapchat since 2021. It also lists the arrest of a drug dealer running a “truly massive” drug ring through Snapchat in 2019.

The lawsuit also alleges that the platform’s artificial intelligence (AI) feature, “My AI” — which allows users to send text, pictures and video to it — “comes as states confront the harsh realities of AI technology’s impact on children.” The lawsuit accuses the AI model of “hallucinating false information and giving dangerous advice” to users, including minors.

“Tests on underage accounts have shown My AI advising a 15-year-old on how to hide the smell of alcohol and marijuana; and giving a 13-year-old account advice on setting the mood for a sexual experience with a 31-year-old,” the lawsuit states.

“This lawsuit against Snap is about accountability and about drawing a clear line: the well-being of our children must come before corporate profits,” Cox said in a statement. “We won’t sit back while tech companies exploit young users.”

The state also accuses Snap of deceiving users and their parents about the safety of its platform, noting it violates the Utah Consumer Privacy Act by not informing users of their data-sharing practices and failing to allow users to opt out of sharing their data. It states that the AI feature still collects user geolocation data even when “Ghost Mode,” which hides users’ location from other users, is activated.

“Snap’s commitment to user safety is an illusion,” the lawsuit reads. “Its app is not safe, it is dangerous.”

However, Snap said that the company has “no higher priority than the safety of Snapchatters,” and argued that a majority of the app’s users utilize the platform to connect with close friends and family.

“We are committed to making Snapchat a safe and fun environment for our community, and have built privacy and safety features into our service from the start,” a Snap Company spokesperson told The Hill.

The company points to its safety features already in place, including that all accounts are private by default and that it continues to improve its Family Center suite of tools, where parents can see who their child or teen is friends with, who they recently chatted with recently and easily report accounts of concern. 

The spokesperson also noted that Utah’s social media safety law, which aimed to require social media companies to verify people’s ages, apply privacy settings and impose certain restrictions on minors, was blocked by a federal judge last year because it violates the First Amendment.

“Now, unable to accept the court’s rejection of the state’s legislation, the Utah Attorney General is resorting to civil litigation as a means to circumvent the court and impose age verification requirements and age-related restrictions in ways that are unconstitutional,” the Snap Company spokesperson said.

The Snap Company’s Co-founder and CEO, Evan Spiegel, also wrote an op-ed for The Hill in May 2025 arguing that age verification protections should be moved to the app store.

“This approach isn’t about being overly restrictive or surveilling teens,” he wrote at the time. “It’s about making sure their online experiences are age-appropriate while protecting their privacy and freedom to explore.”

The filing is Utah’s fourth lawsuit against social media companies, following lawsuits against TikTok and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.

Utah is not the first state to sue the platform for its impact on children. In April, Florida sued Snap Inc. as well, making similar allegations about its harm to children.

Updated at 3:55 p.m. EDT