Details unredacted in Utah’s lawsuit against Snapchat, alleging exploitation of children

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The majority of Utah’s lawsuit against Snap, Inc., the company that owns Snapchat, has now been unredacted, allowing the public to know more about what kind of evidence the state is using to support its complaint.

The Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection

filed the lawsuit against Snap Inc. on June 30, alleging that the app is designed to get children addicted to it and that it enables sexual exploitation.

The lawsuit came after Snap, Inc. filed a suit of its own against Utah Attorney General Derek Brown on June 20, alleging that the state was unlawfully threatening impose restrictions on Snapchat through litigation. Snap alleged that a letter sent to Snap by the state went against Utah laws, and that the Utah Minor Protection in Social Media Act of 2024 violated their rights.

The unredacted details from Utah’s complaint illustrate the amount of time teenagers spend on Snapchat, undisclosed information about Snapchat’s AI chatbot, and evidence of the vast majority of abuse reports being left unreviewed.

The complaint cites a 2023 report that shows that Utah teenagers have spent nearly 8 billion minutes on Snapchat since 2020. That same report also found evidence that over half a million Utah users are active between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. each day.

The lawsuit also alleges that Snapchat senior engineering managers internally called the rollout of the My AI Chatbot “reckless” because it was not tested to their standards. Reportedly, employees warned that the chatbot “hallucinates answers” and “can be tricked into saying just about anything.” The state cites additional reports that the AI chatbot advised minors on how to hide drugs or flirt with teachers.

The My AI feature also collects user location data, even when users have selected “ghost mode,” which is supposed to be a feature that hides user location data. According to the lawsuit, Snapchat does not disclose to users that My AI collects location data.

Snapchat reportedly shares private information with third parties such as OpenAI and Microsoft Advertising.

Other internal communications show that Snap admitted to being “overrun” with sexual extortion and that it “takes under a minute to use Snapchat to be in a position to purchase illegal and harmful substances,” according to the complaint.

Finally, the lawsuit alleges that Snapchat “ignored” 96% of abuse reports. Snapchat’s in-app reporting feature allegedly had “significant gaps,” as 96% of existing account reports were not reviewed by their Trust and Safety Team. One particular account was reported 75 times for mentioning “nudes, minors, and extortion,” and it allegedly remained active for 10 months.