CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey announced a lawsuit against a social media company for its alleged role in harming West Virginia kids, including two West Virginia children who died after being sextorted on the platform.McCuskey filed suit in Kanawha County Circuit Court Thursday against Snap Inc., the maker of Snapchat, alleging the company deceived West Virginia parents and children about the safety of its platform while knowing it exposed young users to sexual exploitation, harmful content, and compulsive-use design.The consumer protection lawsuit also alleges that Snap rushed the launch of its “My AI” chatbot to children without adequate safety testing and misled families about what the chatbot does with their private conversations and locations.The lawsuit was filed one day before the first anniversary of the death of Bryce Tate, a 15-year-old honors student at Nitro High School in Kanawha County.On Nov. 6, 2025, Bryce was targeted in a sextortion scheme that began on Snapchat. Three hours later, he was gone.Bryce’s father and family joined the Attorney General at a press conference Friday where they also announced funding for the Shield Initiative, which is a statewide education campaign from the Bryce Tate Memorial foundation to alert students, parents, and educators to sextortion and other online dangers.The message is simple: Stop. Screenshot. Show Someone.To read a copy of the lawsuit, click here.To learn more about Bryce, watch “Bryce’s Story: Text Message Tragedy” by clicking here.Copyright 2026 WSAZ. All rights reserved.
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