West Virginia Sues Snap Over Teen Safety
Attorney General J.B. McCuskey alleges Snapchat markets safety features deceptively and exposes young users to predators.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Sex Crimes
West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey filed a lawsuit against Snap, Inc. in Kanawha County Circuit Court. The suit follows the death of a teenager who was sextorted through Snapchat last year.
Why it matters
The lawsuit targets claims that Snapchat's safety features are misrepresented to parents and young users. It puts the platform's handling of predators and sextortion directly before a West Virginia court.
The complaint was filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court and announced at a press conference at the State Capitol Building in Charleston. No response from Snap, Inc. is included in the extraction.
The players
J.B. McCuskey
J.B. McCuskey is the Attorney General of West Virginia, the state's chief legal officer responsible for civil and criminal litigation on behalf of the state.
Snap, Inc.
Snap, Inc. is the California-based company that owns and operates the social media app Snapchat.
The details
McCuskey alleges Snap, Inc. deceptively markets Snapchat's safety features and exposes young users to predators. The suit cites a teenager who died last year after being sextorted through the app.
Timeline
2025: A teenager was sextorted through Snapchat and later died.
November 5, 2026: The lawsuit was filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
Legal Context
State attorneys general have increasingly filed youth-safety suits against social media companies, framing platform design and safety marketing as consumer-protection issues. West Virginia's complaint follows that pattern by tying alleged platform failures to a specific child's death.
Parents in West Virginia who use Snapchat may want to review the app's safety settings for their children. The lawsuit's outcome could affect how the platform's safety claims are presented to users in the state.
The takeaway
Parents may find it useful to talk with teenagers about sextortion risks on any messaging app and to review privacy and reporting tools together. Reporting suspicious contacts to the platform and to law enforcement can help limit further harm.
Further reading
For related coverage, see Sex Crimes reporting across West Virginia.
Source note: This article includes information reported by WV News.
