Teen Leaks Snapchat

Teen Leaks Snapchat Evan Spiegel, the founder of Snapchat, was a Stanford frat guy when he designed this image-sharing app specifically targeted to teens. Users are able to send images and videos which self-destruct within seconds–though quick fingers may still manage to save screenshots via third-party applications; leading some critics to suggest that Snapchat promotes sexual misconduct despite Spiegel denying this claim.

But now a massive leak of private Snapchat images, known as the “Snappening”, has surfaced. Motherboard reports that over 200,000 users, mostly teenagers, had their explicit photos collected and uploaded by an outside party for posting online by third party hackers – this comes shortly after last year’s “Fappening”, when nude iCloud photos belonging to celebrities were stolen and leaked online.

The Snapchat leak illustrates the risk that seemingly harmless messages pose when used to coerce and exploit teens. According to police reports, Trent Mansberger of Florida forced his 15-year-old victim into sending nude Snapchat pictures with threats that they would be leaked out to her family, then forced her into meeting up at his home where he sexually assaulted her.

This incident highlights Snapchat’s need to increase parental controls. They have recently implemented a feature allowing parents to gain visibility into their child’s friend list and messages within seven days; though this requires striking a delicate balance; Snap mustn’t alienate teen users by giving access to these tools, nor risk becoming criticised for breaching teenagers’ privacy.