Lawsuit alleges Snapchat allows drug dealers to publish drug menus and other evidence that disappear within 24 hours

The Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), a legal resource for parents of children and teenage victims harmed by social media addiction and online abuse, together with C.A. Goldberg, PLLC, a New York law firm representing victims of catastrophic injuries caused by tech giants, have filed a lawsuit against Snap, Inc. on behalf of the families of nine teenagers and young adults, eight of whom died after taking drugs purchased from drug dealers who they connected with through Snapchat. In all eight cases, the children and young adults believed they were purchasing non-lethal medications, like Percocet or Xanax; but the pills were actually fentanyl pressed to look like prescription medications and in doses lethal enough to kill multiple people with a single dose.

The suit alleges that Snapchat’s disappearing messages, My Eyes Only and Snap Map features, among other products unique to the social media platform encourage, enable and facilitate illegal and deadly drug sales of counterfeit pills containing lethal doses of fentanyl to minors and young adults. Snapchat provides drug dealers with a never-ending source of young customers, obstructs parental supervision, enables dealers to locate and access nearby minors and young adults, and promises the posting and exchange of drug menus and other information that disappears – erasing evidence of the sale and crime.

“The use of counterfeit drugs laced with fentanyl is a national crisis which is affecting minors as much, if not more, than adults,” said Matthew P. Bergman, founding attorney of SMVLC. “As much as Snap wants us to believe that this is a social media issue, it is in fact a Snapchat issue, caused by Snap’s inherently flawed marketing strategies and product designs which encourage, facilitate and assist online drug dealers with finding minors and young adults.

“Snapchat has become the ‘new street corner in the shady part of town’ where kids and teenagers know they can go to buy drugs and drug dealers can escape punishment. While it is obviously wrong to buy illegal drugs of any kind, these kids didn’t deserve to die for one bad decision,” Bergman added.

SMVLC and CA Goldberg PLLC filed the lawsuits on behalf of the families of Alexander Neville, 14, from San Diego, CA; Daniel Puerta, 16, from Santa Clarita, CA; Jeff Hernandez, 17, from Elk Grove, CA; Dylan Kai Sarantos, 18, from Los Angeles, CA; Devin Norring, 19, from Hastings, MN; Jack McCarthy, 19, from Birmingham, MI; Alexandra Capelouto, 20 from Temecula, CA; and Daniel (Elijah) Figueroa, 20, from Seal Beach, CA. who all died after unknowingly taking fentanyl-laced pills sold by Snapchat drug dealers. It also includes 16-year-old A.B., who survived, continues to use the defective and inherently dangerous Snapchat product without her parents’ consent and is not named in court documents because she’s a minor.

Please contact us should you like to learn more information about any of the victims listed above.

The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on October 13, 2022.  A copy of the complaint is available upon request.

About the Social Media Victims Law Center

The Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), socialmediavictims.org, was founded in 2021 to hold social media companies legally accountable for the harm they inflict on vulnerable users. SMVLC seeks to apply principles of product liability to force social media companies to elevate consumer safety to the forefront of its economic analysis and design safer platforms to protect users from foreseeable harm.

About Matthew P. Bergman

Matthew P. Bergman is an attorney, law professor, philanthropist and community activist who has recovered over $1 billion on behalf of his clients. He is the founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center and Bergman Draper Oslund Udo law firm; a professor at Lewis & Clark Law School; and serves on the board of directors of nonprofit institutions in higher education, national security, civil rights, worker protection and the arts.

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