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Culture April 17, 2017
CEO Evan Spiegel allegedly considered the company "too poor" to warrant Snapchat expansion.
Anonymous Indian hackers threaten massive Snapchat data leak following CEO Evan Spiegel’s alleged offensive comments.
The claim came after Spiegel’s reported comments that India was “too poor” to consider for Snapchat expansion. And now hackers are saying that they have leaked a database of 1.7 million Snapchat users.
Vulnerability in the Snapchat database discovered last year reportedly made the breach possible. The hackers are now threatening an intensive strike against the company in the virtual world until India receives an apology from Spiegel… which doesn’t look to be coming any time soon.
Indian users also launched a negative campaign against the app, reportedly bringing Snapchat’s rating down from five stars to only one star in the app store.
Users tank Snapchat ratings with one-star reviews after alleged offensive Snapchat comments spark outrage in India. via Apple Store
Negative reviews for Snapchat flooded the app store over the weekend, while #BoycottSnapchat started trending on Twitter. “I cannot support an app that has a CEO who favors one country over another because of their economic progress,” one user wrote.
The uproar is over comments found in a newly unredacted lawsuit from former Snapchat employee, Anthony Pompliano. He says he had been fired after presenting methods to address the issue of Snapchat’s lack of growth overseas.
Documents show that Spiegel allegedly said, “This app is only for rich people. I don’t want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain.”
Of course, a statement from the company pins the negative comments on “a disgruntled, former employee” and denies Spiegel ever said them.
“This is ridiculous. Obviously, Snapchat is for everyone! It’s available worldwide to download for free,” the statement said.
Spiegel has yet to respond to the backlash.
