1 hour Ago
This isn't the first time Snapchat has faced this kind of pressure in the country. Just months earlier, another organization took similar action, meaning the platform is now dealing with two separate legal challenges built on nearly identical complaints.
What The Foundation Wants Changed
The core of the complaint centers on a handful of features that Stichting Massaschade & Consument believes are engineered to be habit-forming. Streaks, which reward users for messaging friends daily without a break, are singled out, along with Snap Scores, a point system that tracks activity on the app. Autoplay, the setting that keeps content rolling without users having to tap anything, is also on the list.
The foundation isn't just asking for these features to be tweaked. It wants Snapchat to give users the option to switch them off entirely. Beyond that, the group is pushing the court to order changes that would make the platform genuinely safer, and it's also seeking financial compensation on behalf of affected users.
Talks Broke Down Before Lawsuit Was Filed
According to the foundation's chairwoman, Lucia Melcherts, this legal step wasn't the first move. Her organization actually sat down with Snapchat representatives before deciding to escalate things. But those conversations went nowhere. Melcherts described the experience as being brushed off, saying the company kept deflecting rather than engaging seriously with their concerns. With no progress made, the foundation decided filing a lawsuit was the only path left.
A Pattern Of Legal Pressure On Snapchat
This case adds to a growing list of legal troubles for Snapchat in the Netherlands. Back in June, another group, Stichting Onderzoek Marktinformatie, launched its own class-action case against the platform, raising nearly the same concerns about addictive design choices. That foundation has a track record here too, having previously gone after other major platforms including TikTok, X, and Meta over comparable issues.
Together, these two cases suggest mounting scrutiny in the Netherlands over how social media platforms, particularly ones with a large young user base, design their apps to maximise engagement, sometimes, critics argue, at the expense of user health.
