SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - The maker of Snapchat is looking to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a girl who alleges it, Google and Apple are to blame for the sexual abuse she suffered.
Snap filed its motion Oct. 27 in San Diego federal court, arguing against claims the app helps sexual predators locate victims like plaintiff L.W. She says from age 12 to 16, she was groomed and abused by a man named B.P. on Snapchat after they met on Instagram.
The grooming included an exchange of pornographic photos. The suit says Snapchat fosters a sense of impunity for people like B.P., while Apple and Google steer users to an app called Chitter that also featured in L.W.'s abuse.
A recent amended complaint added two more plaintiffs but failed to make a reasonable legal argument, Snap says.
"For instance, the amended complaint falsely alleges that Snap's Quick Add feature allows predators to identify and connect with children based on geographic location or mutual interests," the motion to dismiss says.
"Quick Add has never operated in this way, as even the most cursory investigation - consisting of opening the Snapchat app and looking the Quick Add feature - would reveal."
Quick Add only suggestions contacts to users if they have mutual contacts, or if the user has the other's email or phone number in their phone's contacts, Snap says. Plus, the profile displayed for a suggested contact doesn't contain age, gender, birthday or location, Snap says.
"So the notion, made repeatedly throughout the amended complaint, that Snapchat's Quick Add function lets adult users peruse profiles of unknown children, like a catalogue, to see if they want to add those children as contacts is demonstrably false," the motion says.
L.W. says she tried to block him multiple times but he would contact her through Instagram or with a fake Snapchat account. B.P. used Snapchat to sexually abuse others, the suit says, from his location in the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
"B.P. would ridicule and berate her if L.W. refused and would compliment her when she would comply," the lawsuit says. "B.P. firs tasked L.W. for photos and videos in her underwear, then photos in the shower, and eventually photos and videos of L.W. depicting L.W.'s face and body, as well as exposed breasts and vaginal area.
"The videos include L.W. masturbating and penetrating her vagina with foreign objects at B.P.'s instructions and requests."