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Incident · Fatality

Ninth Circuit allowed negligent design lawsuit against Snap over Snapchat Speed Filter in fatal high-speed crash

The surviving parents of two boys who died in a high-speed car accident alleged that Snap negligently designed Snapchat's Speed Filter to incentivize dangerous driving. The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court dismissal in May 2021, ruling that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not immunize Snap from product-design liability claims. The case was remanded for further proceedings.

Occurred 2017-05-15 · Snap Inc

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Track Ninth Circuit allowed negligent design lawsuit against Snap over Snapchat Speed Filter in fatal high-speed crash

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Sources (1)

  1. Lemmon v. Snap, Inc., No. 20-55295 (9th Cir. 2021) · https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/20-55295/20-55295-2021-05-04.html · 2021-05-04

Common questions

What happened in Ninth Circuit allowed negligent design lawsuit against Snap over Snapchat Speed Filter in fatal high-speed crash?
The surviving parents of two boys who died in a high-speed car accident alleged that Snap negligently designed Snapchat's Speed Filter to incentivize dangerous driving. The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court dismissal in May 2021, ruling that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not immunize Snap from product-design liability claims. The case was remanded for further proceedings.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on May 15, 2017 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
Who was involved in Ninth Circuit allowed negligent design lawsuit against Snap over Snapchat Speed Filter in fatal high-speed crash?
The incident is recorded as involving Snap Inc on the DEPLOY registry. No specific robot model is linked to this incident in the registry.
Has anyone responded to Ninth Circuit allowed negligent design lawsuit against Snap over Snapchat Speed Filter in fatal high-speed crash?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of Ninth Circuit allowed negligent design lawsuit against Snap over Snapchat Speed Filter in fatal high-speed crash?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Unreviewed · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-15

Verification posture

Unreviewed

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-15

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The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Ninth Circuit allowed negligent design lawsuit against Snap over Snapchat Speed Filter in fatal high-speed crash.

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