Mom alerted to adult content on her teenage son’s Snapchat, so she sues

Snapchat spokesman: "We are sorry if people were offended."

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[ChickenLegs]

I got robbed when I was a pizza delivery guy. This article has made me realize I really missed out on the other stuff though!

 

[cadence]

Seems like an attempt at money grab. This is not a new problem.

 

[bekifft]

Lawyers win again. Her lawyer likely knows better than this, but will get paid anyway.

 

[arstrig]

If a minor has access to a smart phone they have access to adult content. Any parent that doesn't realize this is crazy.

 

[panckage]

under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, it is liable to pay $50,000 per violation. That's $50,000 every time a minor viewed such content.

Wow when companies do economic crimes that are easy to prove there is no remedy. But show a nipple or say a bad word and you're done for...

 

[Fukengruven]

fredrik@skne.se[/url]":u625bli6]If you don't just see Snapchat as a "interactive computer service". The minor is viewing the screen not interacting with it. The crime is commited before the interaction begins. What happens after may not relevant.

I think the lawsuit makes sense.

So you think you just open up Snapchat and do nothing else and you get an endless stream of material inappropriate for minors? One must interact with Snapchat to reach that content. That's the "interactive" part of "interactive computer service".

 

[tkioz]

What I want to know is when the law is going to shift the responsibility for monitoring 'childrens' internet access to where it belongs... On to the parents. Seriously this bollocks is just getting beyond a joke. Take some responsibility for your spawn and stop blaming everything on the 'net.

 

[Boskone]

Fukengruven[/url]":12xsagoi]

fredrik@skne.se[/url]":12xsagoi]If you don't just see Snapchat as a "interactive computer service". The minor is viewing the screen not interacting with it. The crime is commited before the interaction begins. What happens after may not relevant.

I think the lawsuit makes sense.

So you think you just open up Snapchat and do nothing else and you get an endless stream of material inappropriate for minors? One must interact with Snapchat to reach that content. That's the "interactive" part of "interactive computer service".

How's Snapchat to know what might be innapropriate to minors? I mean, I think this lawsuit is inappropriate for minors as it might cause them to think that their specific viewpoint should be protected at the cost of any conflicting viewpoints.

 

[Realitybytes]

Oh My God. Another Puritanical idiot. His son may have seen some T&A. And that is somehow going to ruin him for life. Of course this same caring parent will let him watch pretty much as much violent content as he can see - no problem seeing people shot/stabbed/blown up. That's OK - good and healthy. But he might have seen a tit - he's done for. Sue them.

These people should be publicly exposed as morons.

 

[undervillain]

Inappropriate content found on the Internet! Film at eleven!*


*You may be required to prove your age before viewing this newscast

 

[Luddite Curmudgeon]

My guess is that the lawyer isn't doing the Pro Bono.

 

[tarwin]

This is an idiot moron attorney who saw gold in a possible class-action lawsuit where he can claim a huge winfall. Unfortunately, he cannot sue on behalf of every minor who "might" see the ads since the filters on such apps can be disabled or not set at all. The mother should have not even allowed social media or internet on her son's mobile phone since adult content is ALL OVER the internet. IDIOTS.

 

[Realitybytes]

bongbong[/url]":wvfcohng]SnapChat should b held responsible since they insist on such content, make sure that content doesnt reach minors. They do ask for the birthdate and other info of snapchat users dont they?
Then they have the responsibility to mak sure only age appropriate content is shown to minors.
It isnt any different from selling cigarettes or liquor to minors.

Isn't what's "age appropriate" up to the parents to decide? Since when can you make a decision that every other parent must abide by? Why is sexual content worse then violent content - which most parents don't seem to have a problem with.

 

[dorkbert]

bongbong[/url]":2lpwxqd8]SnapChat should b held responsible since they insist on such content, make sure that content doesnt reach minors. They do ask for the birthdate and other info of snapchat users dont they?
Then they have the responsibility to mak sure only age appropriate content is shown to minors.
It isnt any different from selling cigarettes or liquor to minors.

And suppose the teenager lies on his/her profile? Part of being a parent is keeping tap on the child. If she can't do it, she's unfit to be a parent. She needs to take responsibility for raising her offspring.

 

[BigAssRat]

What would she have said 30 years ago if her son got hold of a Playboy or Penthouse, or God forbid a Hustler!

If you don't want your kids accessing adult things then don't have kids. Or lock them up in a nice white room with nothing but food and water.

 

[ChrisSD]

arstrig[/url]":3t8x76et]If a minor has access to a smart phone they have access to adult content. Any parent that doesn't realize this is crazy.

It is possible to lock down many smartphones such that your child doesn't have access to the untamed internet or any unapproved app. However a technically minded 14 year old would probably be able to find a way around that, if given the time and sufficient motivation,

 

[Kitkoan]

dorkbert[/url]":y3qcpbpb]

bongbong[/url]":y3qcpbpb]SnapChat should b held responsible since they insist on such content, make sure that content doesnt reach minors. They do ask for the birthdate and other info of snapchat users dont they?
Then they have the responsibility to mak sure only age appropriate content is shown to minors.
It isnt any different from selling cigarettes or liquor to minors.

And suppose the teenager lies on his/her profile? Part of being a parent is keeping tap on the child. If she can't do it, she's unfit to be a parent. She needs to take responsibility for raising her offspring.

If he told the truth about his age, and Snapchat does curate their content, then I can see this lawsuit having merit.

Then it means that a) Snapchat knew he was a minor. And b) if it's curating it's own content then they know what is mature subject and what isn't.

Though it would need both of these to be fulfilled for the lawsuit to go anywhere.

 

[Fatesrider]

vlam[/url]":154zv8xz]I'd take any reasoning to eliminate the god awful promoted content on Snapchat. It is wildly invasive to the user experience and can take up real bandwidth that should reasonably be used to load the stories of my friends, not your bullshit sponsored event.

It seems to me that if one doesn't like how the service operates, one can do the adult thing and not use that service.

Seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

[eric123]

Kitkoan[/url]":36s8et81]

dorkbert[/url]":36s8et81]

bongbong[/url]":36s8et81]SnapChat should b held responsible since they insist on such content, make sure that content doesnt reach minors. They do ask for the birthdate and other info of snapchat users dont they?
Then they have the responsibility to mak sure only age appropriate content is shown to minors.
It isnt any different from selling cigarettes or liquor to minors.

And suppose the teenager lies on his/her profile? Part of being a parent is keeping tap on the child. If she can't do it, she's unfit to be a parent. She needs to take responsibility for raising her offspring.

If he told the truth about his age, and Snapchat does curate their content, then I can see this lawsuit having merit.

Then it means that a) Snapchat knew he was a minor. And b) if it's curating it's own content then they know what is mature subject and what isn't.

Though it would need both of these to be fulfilled for the lawsuit to go anywhere.

or if Snapchat specifically targeted minors in an effort to grow its users.
thus a person could claim it marketed itself as a service for children.

 

[z0phi3l]

Kitkoan[/url]":3roskpwl]

dorkbert[/url]":3roskpwl]

bongbong[/url]":3roskpwl]SnapChat should b held responsible since they insist on such content, make sure that content doesnt reach minors. They do ask for the birthdate and other info of snapchat users dont they?
Then they have the responsibility to mak sure only age appropriate content is shown to minors.
It isnt any different from selling cigarettes or liquor to minors.

And suppose the teenager lies on his/her profile? Part of being a parent is keeping tap on the child. If she can't do it, she's unfit to be a parent. She needs to take responsibility for raising her offspring.

If he told the truth about his age, and Snapchat does curate their content, then I can see this lawsuit having merit.

Then it means that a) Snapchat knew he was a minor. And b) if it's curating it's own content then they know what is mature subject and what isn't.

Though it would need both of these to be fulfilled for the lawsuit to go anywhere.

If the posted pic is what she's crying bout, she's the problem, I see nothing wrong with any of it, good thing my kids are now grown, but I would not have a problem with them having seen anything like this, or nudity

 

[MarksAngel]

My son is now 22 years old. We never had a problem with him and porn. In fact at the age of 14 we talked with him about sex, explained to him the dangers about unprotected sex (showed him some infected genital pictures thanks to the internet), and also made sure he had access to condoms. We did let him know we didn't think he was old enough to have sex but if he was going to then he needed to make sure he did so safely.

We also told him there was no problem with masturbating and that it is a perfectly normal and healthy thing to do. Also since we new he had access to the internet, we let him know there was nothing wrong with porn, but that what he sees in porn is a fantasy and not how real sex actually is. I believe his dad also made sure he knew what the "safe" (by safe I mean computer safe, viruses, malware etc) porn sites were to go too.

All of this paid off, as on one occasion we actually overheard him chastising a friend for not using protection while having sex.

The problem is parents refuse to talk to their kids about sex, then freak out when they have access to sexual material. They seriously need to get over themselves.

 

[Fatesrider]

MarksAngel[/url]":39z018cz]My son is now 22 years old. We never had a problem with him and porn. In fact at the age of 14 we talked with him about sex, explained to him the dangers about unprotected sex (showed him some infected genital pictures thanks to the internet), and also made sure he had access to condoms. We did let him know we didn't think he was old enough to have sex but if he was going to then he needed to make sure he did so safely.

We also told him there was no problem with masturbating and that it is a perfectly normal and healthy thing to do. Also since we new he had access to the internet, we let him know there was nothing wrong with porn, but that what he sees in porn is a fantasy and not how real sex actually is. I believe his dad also made sure he knew what the "safe" (by safe I mean computer safe, viruses, malware etc) porn sites were to go too.

All of this paid off, as on one occasion we actually overheard him chastising a friend for not using protection while having sex.

The problem is parents refuse to talk to their kids about sex, then freak out when they have access to sexual material. They seriously need to get over themselves.

While I heartily applaud you for being rational and proactive in your parenting, the problem here appears to be that some folks expect others to be doing the parenting of their kids, and blames them for their own parenting failures when others don't measure up to a standard the parents don't manage to achieve themselves.

 

[Forensics Person]

Times have changed, skill sets have also for teens.

No longer will a 14 year old with raging hormones be faced with needing to find dad's magazines, retrieve them, handle them with care, hide them when not in use and return them in secret before dad discovers them missing.

Today dad will discover the hidden porn in 1/20 the time when the phone rings, beeps or vibrates and the charging cable running under the mattress in the teens bedroom is a dead giveaway to the secret hiding spot.

 

[Stefan R]

Parents, get a grip.
Never in the entire history of humanity has it been possible to keep a teenage boy away from porn. And never has it done any harm.

 

[davethepak]

While I do agree that snapchat and other services should have content ratings, and have the capability to limit content, this lawsuit sounds like either an active money grab, or a instance delusional parenting (or both).

Many parents do not want to admit their "little angel" is not sweet and innocent.

If this parent really wanted to freak - imagine if they could hear their 14 year old in the company of their peers.

 

[Kitkoan]

eric123[/url]":3tkf8q9z]

Kitkoan[/url]":3tkf8q9z]

dorkbert[/url]":3tkf8q9z]

bongbong[/url]":3tkf8q9z]SnapChat should b held responsible since they insist on such content, make sure that content doesnt reach minors. They do ask for the birthdate and other info of snapchat users dont they?
Then they have the responsibility to mak sure only age appropriate content is shown to minors.
It isnt any different from selling cigarettes or liquor to minors.

And suppose the teenager lies on his/her profile? Part of being a parent is keeping tap on the child. If she can't do it, she's unfit to be a parent. She needs to take responsibility for raising her offspring.

If he told the truth about his age, and Snapchat does curate their content, then I can see this lawsuit having merit.

Then it means that a) Snapchat knew he was a minor. And b) if it's curating it's own content then they know what is mature subject and what isn't.

Though it would need both of these to be fulfilled for the lawsuit to go anywhere.

or if Snapchat specifically targeted minors in an effort to grow its users.
thus a person could claim it marketed itself as a service for children.

Target minors to grow it's users? How do you mean? Like advertise to them in general?

If so, wouldn't matter since they aren't only adult material. Would be like trying to sue Microsoft/Google/Apple because they sell mature (music/videos/games) and they market to children. Sure, they have mature material, but thats not everything they have and aren't pushing the mature subjects for kids (no "Hey kids, get 50 Shades of Grey, now on X platform")

 

[MarksAngel]

Fatesrider[/url]":1dmi4z9m]

MarksAngel[/url]":1dmi4z9m]My son is now 22 years old. We never had a problem with him and porn. In fact at the age of 14 we talked with him about sex, explained to him the dangers about unprotected sex (showed him some infected genital pictures thanks to the internet), and also made sure he had access to condoms. We did let him know we didn't think he was old enough to have sex but if he was going to then he needed to make sure he did so safely.

We also told him there was no problem with masturbating and that it is a perfectly normal and healthy thing to do. Also since we new he had access to the internet, we let him know there was nothing wrong with porn, but that what he sees in porn is a fantasy and not how real sex actually is. I believe his dad also made sure he knew what the "safe" (by safe I mean computer safe, viruses, malware etc) porn sites were to go too.

All of this paid off, as on one occasion we actually overheard him chastising a friend for not using protection while having sex.

The problem is parents refuse to talk to their kids about sex, then freak out when they have access to sexual material. They seriously need to get over themselves.

While I heartily applaud you for being rational and proactive in your parenting, the problem here appears to be that some folks expect others to be doing the parenting of their kids, and blames them for their own parenting failures when others don't measure up to a standard the parents don't manage to achieve themselves.

I agree, it seems far to many folks want others to do the parenting for them.

 

[caspar347]

I know we all hate the new "enhanced" Discover features*, but this really isn't the way to go about getting them taken down.

*For those who don't know, in a recent update the app now displays several rows of clickbait article titles (mostly stuff from Vice, Cosmo, and Buzzfeed, at least for stuff that could be considered "mature") and ads when you try to look at your friends' content. It takes up anywhere from 1/4 to half of the screen when you're on the story page. And by default all of that loads before your friends' content loads.

And actually it looks like that's been removed in the wake of this. Huh. Cool.

Edit: never mind. It looks like it's still there. Grrrr.

 

[Lycanthrope]

"14-year-old looks at porn on the internet."

Wow. Who'da thunk it.

Utilising age gates will definitely put a stop to that. Yup. Definitely. Has worked for the last 30-years.

 

[freedfromdeath]

Gotta ban dem Internet browsers, they let you go to xvideos.

 

[Luddite Curmudgeon]

MarksAngel[/url]

The problem is parents refuse to talk to their kids about sex, then freak out when they have access to sexual material. They seriously need to get over themselves.

This is the age-old issue. Parents refuse to talk to their kids about sex, and they won't let the schools educate their kid about sex. Then they complain about how their kids got pregnant or STDs. They never look in the mirror when they want somebody to blame and they always want the other parents to educate their kids. Everybody points fingers to everybody else when what they need to do is point fingers at themselves.

Just this week, there's a report that cancer from HPV (which is passed by sexual contact) is growing, even though there's a vaccine. But parents won't get their kids to get the shot series (starting at age 12, I think) because it has sex connotations.

 

[Sixclaws]

I'm shocked, surprised, outraged that a teenager could find porn on the internet. Shocked!

 

[Political Geek]

Realitybytes[/url]":2yj40mek]

bongbong[/url]":2yj40mek]SnapChat should b held responsible since they insist on such content, make sure that content doesnt reach minors. They do ask for the birthdate and other info of snapchat users dont they?
Then they have the responsibility to mak sure only age appropriate content is shown to minors.
It isnt any different from selling cigarettes or liquor to minors.

Isn't what's "age appropriate" up to the parents to decide? Since when can you make a decision that every other parent must abide by? Why is sexual content worse then violent content - which most parents don't seem to have a problem with.

Exactly. As a parent I actually don't see much problem with a 14 years old reading about sexuality topics. I not so sure at extremely violent topics.

 

[isparavanje]

Realitybytes[/url]":2xhbock1]Oh My God. Another Puritanical idiot. His son may have seen some T&A. And that is somehow going to ruin him for life. Of course this same caring parent will let him watch pretty much as much violent content as he can see - no problem seeing people shot/stabbed/blown up. That's OK - good and healthy. But he might have seen a tit - he's done for. Sue them.

These people should be publicly exposed as morons.

The problem is actually not even that. I mean, not wanting your kids to have access to adult material is one thing, but since when did suing replace good parenting?