Is Snap (Snapchat) ethical?

The New Mexico Attorney General's 2024 lawsuit alleged Snap actively connected minors with pedophile networks, with an undercover investigation finding more than 10,000 dark web records tied to Snapchat and child sexual abuse material in a single year. The FTC referred a complaint to the Department of Justice in January 2025 alleging Snap's "My AI" chatbot posed risks and harms to young users, concluding the company was violating or about to violate the law.

Why are people boycotting Snap?

Harm to children, addictive design, and facilitation of drug dealing are the main reasons. Relatives of more than 60 young people who died from fentanyl-laced pills purchased through Snapchat sued Snap, with a federal judge allowing the case to proceed in 2024. Internal Snap emails showed employees celebrated the Streaks feature as addictive while the company had never studied its mental health impact on children.

What are the best ethical alternatives to Snap?

Signal is an end-to-end encrypted messaging app from a nonprofit with no ads and no data collection that works as a full replacement for Snapchat messaging. Threema offers privacy-first messaging from Switzerland without requiring a phone number or email to sign up. For teens especially, local community activities and face-to-face meetups avoid the documented harms entirely.

Snap (Snapchat)

Flagged · Avoid

Snap Inc. operates Snapchat, a social media platform built around disappearing photos and videos that is especially popular with teenagers and young adults.

Last updated June 10, 2026

Reasons to avoid

Issues span:Consumer

The New Mexico Attorney General's 2024 lawsuit against Snap alleged the company actively connected minors with pedophile networks. An undercover investigation by the state found more than 10,000 dark web records tied to Snapchat and child sexual abuse material in a single year.nmdoj.gov2024-09-05
Relatives of more than 60 young people who died from fentanyl-laced pills purchased through Snapchat sued Snap, with a federal judge allowing the case to proceed in January 2024. Snapchat's disappearing messages and Snap Map were cited as design features that allowed drug dealers to connect with teens while evading law enforcement.nbcnews.com2024-01-03
In January 2025, the FTC referred a complaint to the Department of Justice alleging Snap's "My AI" chatbot posed risks and harms to young users, concluding the company was "violating or about to violate the law." A prior investigation found the chatbot advised a reporter posing as a 13-year-old on how to conceal alcohol and drug use from parents.ftc.gov2025-01-16
Internal Snap emails obtained in litigation show employees celebrated the Streaks feature as addictive, writing "we should have more addicting features like this," despite the company having never studied the feature's mental health impact on children. By September 2025, the Kansas attorney general had joined dozens of other states in suing Snap for designing the platform to "prey on the mental health of our children."kansasreflector.com2025-09-23

Ethical alternatives

Private Messaging

Signal

End-to-end encrypted messaging from a nonprofit. No ads, no data collection, no corporate ownership.

📊 Data Privacy💻 Open Source📚 Free Resource

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Threema

Privacy-first messaging from Switzerland. No phone number or email address required to sign up.

📊 Data Privacy💻 Open Source

Visit →

Staying Connected

Local Meetups

Trade screen time for face time. Find local events and activities in your community.

📍 Local Business

Common Questions

Is Snap (Snapchat) ethical?: The New Mexico Attorney General's 2024 lawsuit alleged Snap actively connected minors with pedophile networks, with an undercover investigation finding more than 10,000 dark web records tied to Snapchat and child sexual abuse material in a single year. The FTC referred a complaint to the Department of Justice in January 2025 alleging Snap's "My AI" chatbot posed risks and harms to young users, concluding the company was violating or about to violate the law.
Why are people boycotting Snap?: Harm to children, addictive design, and facilitation of drug dealing are the main reasons. Relatives of more than 60 young people who died from fentanyl-laced pills purchased through Snapchat sued Snap, with a federal judge allowing the case to proceed in 2024. Internal Snap emails showed employees celebrated the Streaks feature as addictive while the company had never studied its mental health impact on children.
What are the best ethical alternatives to Snap?: Signal is an end-to-end encrypted messaging app from a nonprofit with no ads and no data collection that works as a full replacement for Snapchat messaging. Threema offers privacy-first messaging from Switzerland without requiring a phone number or email to sign up. For teens especially, local community activities and face-to-face meetups avoid the documented harms entirely.