Families Sue Snapchat Parent Company Over Rising Fentanyl Deaths
Families are taking the fight against drugs to the courtroom as over 25 lawsuits have been filed accusing popular social media platform Snapchat and its parent company, Snap Inc., of failing to do more to stop the illegal distribution of drugs to vulnerable teens and young adults.
One lawsuit leading the charge was filed in Los Angeles by the Social Media Victims Law Center and represents at least 50 individuals. The lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating and profiting from a “product that markets and sells lethal drugs to its young users."
Matthew Bergman, the founding attorney for Social Media Victims Law Center, highlights that this problem is unique to Snapchat and not other social media platforms. Bergman shared with NBC news that his plaintiffs “all lost a child to fentanyl poisoning through counterfeit drugs obtained through Snap, not through Instagram, not through TikTok, but through Snap." He added, "This isn't an internet problem. This isn't a social media problem. This is a Snapchat problem."
The lawsuit highlights an alarming claim that from “2020 through 2022, Snapchat was involved in over 75% of the fentanyl poisoning deaths involving children between the ages of 13 to 18 and involving a dealer who was connected with the child via social media."
Unlike other social media platforms, Snapchat is unique in that messages are instantly deleted between users, making it incredibly difficult for parents to find a digital trail of their children's activity on the platform.
The app's ability to connect users via its Snap Map also allows users to easily see where potential dealers are. Users simply need to search for certain tag lines, keywords, or even emojis to get connected with a dealer. As one parent put it, his daughter who lost her life to a fentanyl overdose after obtaining the drugs from Snapchat was able to instantly connect with a dealer, no matter where she traveled.
The lawsuit represents dozens of families who have lost their teens or young adults to fentanyl overdoses after they unknowingly bought what they thought were prescription pills, but were instead fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills. These pills often included lethal doses of Fentanyl unbeknownst to the buyers.
Nationwide, the fentanyl epidemic has exploded to record numbers over the past couple of years. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, drug overdoses rose between 2019 and 2021 with over 100,000 overdose deaths being reported in 2021. In 2020, these deaths nearly doubled from what 2019 numbers indicate. Those who are most impacted were individuals aged 20 to 25. A majority of these drug overdoses involved fentanyl.
At the same time, drug seizures at the southern border have steadily climbed over the past couple of years. In late 2022, the Drug Enforcement Agency announced a massive seizure of over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription pills as well as over 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder. This highly potent powder has fatal consequences for not just users but those in close proximity to users. Officials indicate that two milligrams of fentanyl, or about the size of a pencil tip, can be lethal to users.
After the drugs are smuggled into the US, dealers have turned to social media platforms including Snapchat to connect users, many of whom are teens and young adults, to the counterfeit substances.
Bergman warns that “Snapchat needs to take immediate action to stop connecting drug dealers with minors and young adults who have no idea that they are playing Russian Roulette with their lives when unknowingly purchasing medications that are laced with deadly levels of fentanyl. It’s time for Snap to put an end to its Snapchat cartel.”
