A judge in Spalding County, Ga., has dismissed claims against Snapchat in the 2016 distracted driving lawsuit that alleges a 19-year-old driver crashed into another car while using the popular mobile app.
The defendant, Christal McGee, was allegedly using Snapchat’s speed filter, a feature that superimposes the rate of speed you’re traveling onto a photo, when she struck the Mitsubishi Outlander driven by Wentworth Maynard reportedly at 107 mph. Maynard suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the 2015 crash.
But McGee wasn’t the only one being sued. The suit also named Snapchat as a defendant, accusing the company of negligence. According to the Associated Press, Spalding County State Court Judge Josh Thacker ruled that the 1996 Communications Decency Act grants Snapchat immunity. A clause in that law states, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” The judge wrote that Snapchat is a publisher, and therefore has immunity on those grounds.
“A loss for Snapchat would have been dangerous, opening a floodgate of lawsuits for everyone from cell phone manufacturers to billboard advertisers to makeup brands — virtually anyone that can potentially cause a distraction from driving,” Mark Trigg, Snapchat’s attorney, told the AP in an email. “Snapchat’s win instead diverts blame from these companies and requires responsible use of these technologies by the driver.”
The Maynards’ lawyer disagrees with the ruling, and says the plaintiffs are considering an appeal. Claims against McGee are still pending.
What do you think of the judge’s ruling? Was Snapchat negligent in not restricting its speed filter feature? Tell us in the comments below.
Source: AP
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