Item 3. Legal Proceedings
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
Securities-Related Matters
On November 11, 2021, we, and certain of our officers, were named as defendants in a federal securities class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuit was purportedly brought on behalf of purchasers of our Class A common stock. The lawsuit alleges that we and certain of our officers made false or misleading statements and omissions concerning the impact that Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework would have on our business. Plaintiffs seek monetary damages and other relief. We recently settled this case, but that settlement is subject to court approval. If the settlement is not approved, we will continue to litigate the case. Although we believe we have meritorious defenses to the lawsuit, litigation is inherently uncertain and an unfavorable outcome could seriously harm our business.
On August 21, 2025, we, and certain of our officers, were named as defendants in a federal securities class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuit was purportedly brought on behalf of purchasers of our Class A common stock. The lawsuit alleges that we and certain of our officers made false or misleading statements concerning an ad platform change that impacted revenue in the first half of 2025. Plaintiffs seek monetary damages and other relief. In December 2025, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the case which may be refiled in the future. We believe we have meritorious defenses to the claims, and will defend it vigorously, but litigation is inherently uncertain, and an unfavorable outcome could seriously harm our business.
Platform-Related Matters
Beginning on January 20, 2022, we were named as a defendant in various federal and state courts by plaintiffs alleging that the design and use of our platform, and those of our competitors, is addictive and harmful to users, with most of the cases focused on mental health harms and users under 18-years old. The majority of cases have been consolidated in either a federal Multi-District Litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, or MDL, or a California Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding, or JCCP, pending in the Complex Division of the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Trials are scheduled for the individual plaintiff bellwether cases in the JCCP starting in January 2026. Snap reached a confidential settlement agreement resolving the first JCCP bellwether trial for Snap. The next JCCP bellwether trial including Snap is scheduled to begin in March 2026. A putative class action asserting similar allegations was also filed in Canada and Israel.
Numerous school districts, municipalities and tribal nations have filed public nuisance and other claims based on similar allegations, which also were consolidated in either the MDL or JCCP. In the JCCP proceeding, the court dismissed the school district and municipality plaintiffs’ claims without prejudice, which ruling is now on appeal. Some of those dismissed plaintiffs have refiled their claims in the MDL or other venue. Trials are scheduled for the school district bellwether cases in the MDL starting in June 2026. We have received similar claims in Canada.
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Beginning on January 30, 2024, certain U.S. state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against us in their respective state courts making similar allegations as well as allegations regarding harmful and mature content, child safety concerns, sexual exploitation of minors, misuse by bad actors, unlawful data collection, privacy violations, and allegedly misleading safety and marketing campaigns. These lawsuits assert various legal claims, including violations of state consumer protection laws, unfair business practices, product liability, and negligence.
On October 13, 2022, we were named as a defendant in a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that we should be responsible for the deaths of young people who died from ingesting fatal doses of fentanyl after allegedly communicating on Snapchat with drug dealers concerning drug transactions. Other similar lawsuits were filed on behalf of other families, which were coordinated with the first-filed case and assigned to the same judge. On January 2, 2024, the judge granted in part and overruled in part our demurrer to the lawsuit, allowing several of the claims to proceed.
On January 16, 2025, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission referred a complaint against us to the Department of Justice that pertains to our deployment of our My AI feature and the allegedly resulting risks of harm to young users. The DOJ did not act on the referred complaint within the time defined by statute, thereby returning the complaint to the FTC’s jurisdiction. The FTC has not taken further action to advance the complaint, and we have no indication they will do so.
On July 24, 2025, a lawsuit was filed against Roblox and Snap alleging that a minor had met a stranger on Roblox and became an alleged victim of sexual exploitation occurring on both Roblox and Snapchat. Similar lawsuits have been filed by additional families, including against other platforms. In December 2025, a federal Multi-District Litigation proceeding was formed to coordinate similar cases that had been filed in federal court. There are separate cases proceeding in state court. In all of these matters, the victim is alleged to have met a stranger on Roblox followed by exploitation allegedly occurring on Roblox or another platform, such as Snapchat, Instagram, or Discord.
We believe we have meritorious defenses to these lawsuits, and plan to continue to defend them vigorously, but litigation is inherently uncertain and an unfavorable outcome, including substantial potential damages, penalties, fines and injunctive relief, could seriously harm our business.
We are also subject to government investigations and inquiries from multiple regulators in various jurisdictions globally concerning the use of our products and features, and the alleged mental and physical health and safety impacts on users, in particular younger users. We plan to continue to engage with the regulators productively and believe we have meritorious defenses to any legal proceedings that may arise out of these investigations and inquiries, but any legal proceedings that may arise are inherently uncertain and an unfavorable outcome, including substantial potential damages, penalties, fines and injunctive relief, could seriously harm our business. Any violation of existing or future regulatory orders or consent decrees, or new regulatory investigations or proceedings, could subject us to substantial monetary fines and other penalties that could seriously harm our business.
We are currently involved in, and may in the future be involved in, legal proceedings, claims, inquiries, and investigations in the ordinary course of our business, including claims for infringing intellectual property rights related to our products and the content contributed by our users and partners. Although the results of these proceedings, claims, inquiries, and investigations cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not believe that the final outcome of these matters is reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations. Regardless of final outcomes, however, any such proceedings, claims, inquiries, and investigations may nonetheless impose a significant burden on management and employees and may come with costly defense costs or unfavorable preliminary and interim rulings.
For information regarding legal proceedings in which we are involved, see other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including sections titled Note 8, “Commitments and Contingencies,” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Risk Factors,” which are incorporated by reference.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
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PART II