June 22, 2021
Snapchat deletes a feature that shows how fast a user is on the move when they take a photo or video.
Parent company Snap justified this by saying that the speed filter would be removed because it was rarely used.
However, the company is being sued by the parents of two young men who claim the filter encouraged their sons to drive dangerously at speeds and three deaths were caused by negligent construction.
Three men, two 17-year-olds and a 20-year-old died when a car crashed into a tree in Wisconsin.
Other documents cite two crashes in 2015 in which people used the filter – one resulted in serious injury and the other in the deaths of three young women who crashed into a parked truck in Philadelphia.
Snap said it had already turned off the filter at driving speeds, which capped the speed limit at 35mph (56km/h), and also added a warning.
The controversial Snapchat feature will disappear from the app, which currently has 500 million users, in a matter of weeks.
For more information, read the original story in the BBC.
