• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Science and Tech

#BoycottSnapchat Trends After CEO Says App is Only for the Rich

  • The logo of messaging app Snapchat is seen at a booth at TechFair LA, a technology job fair, in Los Angeles, California.

    The logo of messaging app Snapchat is seen at a booth at TechFair LA, a technology job fair, in Los Angeles, California. | Photo: Reuters

Published 16 April 2017
Opinion

The revelation that Snapchat's CEO had made classist comments in 2015 came from an ex-employee.

Following Variety.com’s recent exposure of Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel for claiming in 2015 that the company’s app is only for “rich people” and that there’s no need to expand in “poor countries” like India and Spain, uproar has been swift.

RELATED: 
Snapchat Accused of Offering 'Racist' Lens

On the Indian app store, reviews are being posted by the minute, with the average rating for the app having swindled down to just one star. In just 24 hours since Saturday, almost 400,000 people in India deleted the Snapchat app from their phones.

The revelation that Spiegel had made those comments came from an ex-employee, Anthony Pompliano, Variety.com reported.

At a meeting to discuss Snapchat’s user growth back in 2015, Pompliano said he expressed concern that the app was not taking off overseas.

He contends that when he presented ideas to address the issue, Spiegel cut him off.

“This app is only for rich people,” Spiegel said, according to Pompliano. “I don’t want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain.”

The allegations are contained in Pompliano’s lawsuit against the company. Pompliano was only a part of staff for a short three weeks before he was fired.

As users reacted to the leaked comments, #boycottsnapchat also became a trending topic on Twitter Saturday, with many tweeting their outrage.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.