COLLIN COUNTY, Texas – Texas announced that they are filing a lawsuit against Snap, Inc., the parent company of the popular social media company Snapchat. 

Snap, Inc. allegedly violates the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Consumer Protection Act (DTPA) by failing to adequately warn parents and consumers about exposure to inappropriate material and the app’s addictive design. The state says the company misrepresents its safety for young users, placing children at risk of harm.

Allegations of “addictive” app design, mature content

FILE – Snapchat logo displayed on a phone screen. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

What we know:

The lawsuit filed on Wednesday alleges that the creators of Snapchat knowingly misrepresented the app’s safety to parents and consumers by promoting it as safe for children and with “12+” age ratings on app stores. 

This was done, the state says, “while simultaneously frequently exposing users to dangerous and mature content,” citing profanity, sexual content, nudity and drug use in the news release.

The lawsuit specifically cites multiple other features of the app, including Snapstreaks, Snapscore, Snap Map, Infinite Scroll, My AI Chatbot, expiring messages and more as incentives to use the app daily and cause harm to young children due to the “addictive” nature of the features.

Texas SCOPE Act violations

What they’re saying:

In the lawsuit, the state mentions three separate sections of the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act that are being violated by Snap, Inc. 

• Section 509.101: Failure to use a commercially reasonable method for a parent or guardian to verify their identity
• Section 509.052: Unlawfully sharing, disclosing and selling known minors’ personal identifying information
• Section 509.054: Failing to provide parental tools for the accounts of known minors.

In this photo illustration a Snapchat logo seen displayed on a smartphone screen in Athens, Greece on May 16, 2022. (Photo illustration by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

In the news release announcing the lawsuit, the Texas Attorney General states that this lawsuit will hold the social media company accountable.

“I will not allow Snapchat to harm our kids by running a business designed to get Texas children addicted to a platform filled with obscene and destructive content,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Parents have a fundamental right to know the dangers of the apps their kids are using and not be lied to by Big Tech companies. This lawsuit will hold Snapchat accountable for illegally undermining parental rights, deceiving consumers, and for putting children in danger.”

Crackdown on Big Tech

The backstory:

The Texas Attorney General’s Office mentions that this lawsuit follows legal action that was taken in Dec. 2024 against several other social media companies, including TikTok, Roblox, Reddit, Instagram and Discord.

Texas similarly launched investigations into these companies regarding their privacy and safety practices for minors, citing the SCOPE Act and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA). The protection of these laws extends to how minors interact with AI products.

FILE- social media, Twitter, TikTok, WhatApp, Instagram, Threads, Snapchat, Facebook, Messenger and Telegram displayed on the screen of a smartphone.(Chesnot/Getty Images)

The SCOPE Act and TDSA explained

Dig deeper:

The SCOPE Act prohibits digital service providers from sharing, disclosing, or selling a minor’s personal identifying information without permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian. The SCOPE Act also requires companies to provide parents with tools to manage and control the privacy settings on their child’s account. 

The TDPSA imposes strict notice and consent requirements on companies that collect and use minors’ personal data.

Potential penalties

What’s next:

Texas is seeking civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, along with a permanent injunction that could require Snapchat to change how it markets and rates the app, disclose what the state describes as “addictive” design features, strengthen parental verification and oversight tools and comply with the SCOPE Act’s protections for minors. 

A jury trial has been requested in Collin County district court.