Snap removes speed filter linked to reckless driving lawsuits
Snap is removing its controversial “speed filter” from Snapchat this week, NPR reports. The in-app effect displays your current speed in miles or kilometers per hour, and many critics have claimed the feature encouraged reckless driving — with some saying that Snap should be held liable when the speed filter was connected to deadly car crashes.
There have been multiple lawsuits over the years connecting Snapchat to car crashes. One concerning a 2015 car accident in Georgia arrived just a few years after Snapchat was first updated to include the filter. In the years since, the company has demoted the filter to a sticker, burying it in a separate menu, and making it a bit harder to use.
The Ninth Circuit Appeals Court recently ruled that Snap could be sued for the speed filter / sticker’s involvement in car accidents. The court found that Snap isn’t protected here by Section 230 — a portion of the Communications Decency Act that shields companies from being sued over the content users’ publish on a platform.
The case, Lemmon v. Snap, involved another crash in Georgia that resulted in the death of three men in 2017. The Ninth Circuit court said that the family members of the men could sue Snap after the case was initially dismissed in 2020.
Snap confirmed that the sticker is being removed and offered the following statement to The Verge:
Nothing is more important than the safety of our Snapchat community, and we had previously disabled the filter at driving speeds. Today the sticker is barely used by Snapchatters, and in light of that, we are removing it altogether.
Snap is removing its controversial “speed filter” from Snapchat this week, NPR reports. The in-app effect displays your current speed in miles or kilometers per hour, and many critics have claimed the feature encouraged reckless driving — with some saying that Snap should be held liable when the speed filter…
Recent Posts
- As Google’s antitrust trial wraps, DOJ seeks sanctions over missing messages
- Microsoft needs some time to ‘refine’ updates for Copilot AI in Windows
- Sony Xperia 1 VI leak reveals new camera app and more features borrowed from Alpha cameras
- Quordle today – hints and answers for Saturday, May 4 (game #831)
- NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Saturday, May 4 (game #62)
Archives
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- December 2011