Snapchat, YOLO, LMK and Suicides from Cyberbullying Class Action

Carson Bride, a sixteen-year-old, committed suicide after being cyberbullied on mobile phone apps. The complaint brings suit against the companies behind those apps: Snap, Inc., which owns Snapchat; YOLO Technologies, which owns YOLO, and LightSpace, Inc., which owns LMK. Among the claims are strict liability, negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation, and negligent misrepresentation, among other things.

The complaint aims to assert claims against the companies “for creating, maintaining, and distributing anonymous messaging apps to teens that are inherently dangerous and defective, and for falsely promising the enforcement of standards.”

The plaintiffs in this case are Bride’s mother on her son’s behalf and the Tyler Clementi Foundation, which aims to fight bullying and cyberbullying.

The complaint asserts, “For decades, anonymous messaging apps [have] been known to cause severe and fatal harm to teenagers, hence[] the harms caused by Defendants’ apps were foreseeable.”

The companies promise to take specific actions against cyberbullying:

• According to the complaint, YOLO said “it would reveal the identities and ban users who engage in bullying and harassing behavior. YOLO stated that it has a zero-tolerance policy for bullying.”
• The complaint alleges that LMK said “it would implement and enforce zero-tolerance policies against bullying and harassing behavior, monitor and report any bullying and harassing behavior to law enforcement, and prohibit sexually explicit and inappropriate texts and photos.
• As to Snapchat, the complaint says it promised “it would remove third party apps that allow bullying and harassing behavior on its platform.”

However, the complaint alleges that those maintaining the apps have not kept their promises, alleging that “millions of users are harmed daily, suffering permanent consequences.” Also, it says, the companies “knew, or should have known, that irreversible, deadly consequences will arise from the use of anonymous messaging apps used by teens.”

According to the complaint, YOLO’s founder acknowledged that YOLO reviews reported bullying but “brushed off the concern … saying ‘it’s nothing compared to any other anonymous app.’”

The complaint says the companies should be held responsible for the deaths, injuries, and other losses caused by the cyberbullying they permit. It asks that YOLO and LMK be “banned from the market” until they make improvements and that Snapchat remove all third-party apps that do not protect young users from bullying.

Three classes have been defined for this action.

• The Snapchat Class is all US residents between the ages of 13 and 17, who are or were registered Snapchat users between May 10, 2018 and the date of judgment in this action.
• The YOLO Class is all US residents between the ages of 13 and 17, who are or were registered YOLO users between May 1, 2019 and the date of judgment in this action.
• The LMK Class is all US residents between the ages of 13 and 17, who are or were registered LMK users between May 1, 2019 and the date of judgment in this action.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Children/Minors, Cyberbullying, Deceptive Misrepresentation, Deceptive Online Services, Promises to Safeguard Children