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Snapchat faces a major legal challenge in California, as a group of families of teenagers and children who overdosed fentanyl filed a lawsuit accusing the social media platform of facilitating illicit drug deals that include fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is deadlier than heroin.
Fentanyl is lethal even in very small doses, is cheap to produce and is often sold concealed as other substances.
The lawsuit, which blames the platform for a series of drug overdoses among young people, could have profound implications for how social media platforms work and are held accountable.
According to an ABC report, more than 60 family members of children and teens who are part of the lawsuit claim that they obtained illegal drugs through Snapchat, and in all but two cases the child or teenager died after taking the alleged drugs obtained via an ad on Snapchat.
The lawsuit alleges that company officials knew that the platform’s unique design and features a safe haven for the sale of illegal drugs.
Traditionally, tech companies like Snapchat have been protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Snap previously tried to dismiss the lawsuit in October, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lawrence B. Reeve ruled Tuesday that the parents’ lawsuit would continue.