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Snapchat ends 'Speed Filter' after lawsuits, report says

Some legal scholars said one of the cases could even speed up Supreme Court review of controversial limits on tech companies' liability.

The Snapchat ghost logo on a white iPhone and a yellow background.

Snapchat is dropping a controversial filter.

Photo: Thought Catalog/Unsplash

Snapchat is ending the "Speed Filter" that figured in multiple lawsuits over car crashes, according to a report in NPR. The filter, which purported to let users see how fast they were going, was cited in a lawsuit by parents who said the filter pushed their sons into a fatal car crash in 2017, for instance.

Some legal scholars also said a federal appeals court decision in May that the lawsuit could proceed might eventually prompt the Supreme Court to take up a case on a controversial legal protection that limits liability for tech companies.

The filter had also figured in other lawsuits over injuries or deaths following crashes that involved excessive speed, NPR reported. The company subsequently put on warnings and capped the speed that it would display at 35 miles per hour.

Ben Brody

Ben Brody (@ BenBrodyDC) is a senior reporter at Protocol focusing on how Congress, courts and agencies affect the online world we live in. He formerly covered tech policy and lobbying (including antitrust, Section 230 and privacy) at Bloomberg News, where he previously reported on the influence industry, government ethics and the 2016 presidential election. Before that, Ben covered business news at CNNMoney and AdAge, and all manner of stories in and around New York. He still loves appearing on the New York news radio he grew up with.

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