Pennsylvania Sues Snap Over Snapchat Usage by a 13-Year-Old
Pennsylvania has sued Snap over Snapchat, and the complaint centers around a 13-year-old account opened by an investigator in the attorney general’s office on a new iPhone before the filing.
The Suit Details
Attorney General David Sunday filed the complaint on August 25, 2026, in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. It includes three counts under the state’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.
The Age Rating Count:
Snap’s app listing in Apple’s App Store, Google Play, and Microsoft stores carries a 13+ age rating due to responses to Apple’s questions about content that includes infrequent profanity, crude humor, sexual content, nudity, drug and alcohol references, and mature themes. Pennsylvania argues these claims are false.
The investigator’s account uncovered videos of cannabis use, explicit ads for streaming apps, and graphic sexual content, contradicting Snap’s stated policies.
Design-Related Counts:
Counts two and three focus on Snap’s design choices:
- Count Two: Snap failed to disclose the addictive nature of its platform.
- Count Three: The design itself is unfair, regardless of any disclosures.
Features highlighted in the complaint include ephemeral content, infinite scroll, push notifications, autoplay, Snapscores, Snapstreaks, and Charms. These features, argued the lawsuit, drive return visits due to fear of missing out (FOMO) and persistent notifications that arrive overnight. Snapstreaks, in particular, puts a tangible value on friendships, impacting a child’s self-worth, according to Attorney General Sunday.
The "Friend Solar System" Feature:
The complaint labels the "Friend Solar System"—a paid feature accessible through Snapchat+—as "perhaps Snapchat’s most extreme method of user manipulation." It allows subscribers to see which planet their friends hold in each other’s solar system, based on how frequently they Snap and chat.
The full complaint is publicly available [here](link to the actual document if possible).