Parents Protest Outside Snap Inc. Santa Monica Headquarters Over Fentanyl-Related Deaths

More than 40 grieving parents and family members from across the United States and the United Kingdom gathered outside Snap Inc.'s headquarters in Santa Monica on Thursday, February 12, 2026, in a powerful demonstration organized by the child safety advocacy group Heat Initiative. Clutching large photos of their lost children, the protesters stood in front of the company's offices near the Santa Monica Airport, holding banners that read "Snapchat: Protect Kids, Not Predators."

They accused Snapchat's disappearing messages feature and inadequate content moderation of enabling drug dealers to sell fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills to vulnerable teens, directly contributing to a wave of fatal overdoses.

The emotional core of the protest was a striking street memorial: demonstrators briefly blocked traffic to paint the names of 108 children-many of whom died from fentanyl poisoning they say was facilitated through the app-directly onto the pavement in white paint. Participants shared heartbreaking personal stories, including one father who described finding his son dead in his bedroom after the teen allegedly obtained a single counterfeit pill via Snapchat. Heat Initiative highlighted internal Snap documents from ongoing lawsuits, including unredacted portions of a Utah state filing, which revealed the company internally admitted being "over-run" with issues like sexual extortion and that it takes "under a minute" to use Snapchat to purchase illegal substances. The group also pointed to claims that 96 percent of abuse reports submitted through the app go unreviewed by Snap's Trust and Safety team.

Participants demanded sweeping safety reforms, including implementing "safety by design" principles-such as defaulting minors to the most private settings, removing addictive features, disabling the My AI chatbot for young users, enforcing stricter age verification, and prohibiting algorithmic promotion of harmful content like drugs or child exploitation material. Many of the families are part of larger legal efforts, with over 65 families involved in lawsuits alleging Snapchat functions as a defective product that facilitates deadly drug transactions. The protest came just weeks after Snap settled a landmark addiction-related lawsuit in California, adding to mounting pressure on the company amid national scrutiny of social media's role in youth safety.

Snap Inc. responded with a public statement condemning the criminal actions of drug dealers and emphasizing its commitment to combating illegal activity on the platform. The company noted it has devoted substantial resources to addressing such issues, including actions against dealers, and called for a collaborative approach involving law enforcement, government, medical professionals, educators, parents, and advocacy groups to tackle the fentanyl crisis. However, no detailed on-site response or immediate policy changes were announced in direct reply to the demonstration.

The event drew significant media attention and amplified broader calls for accountability in the tech industry, where platforms face criticism for prioritizing engagement over user protection. As Santa Monica's sixth-largest employer with around 1,575 workers, Snap remains a key part of the city's tech economy, but Thursday's protest underscored deep community concerns about the real-world harms linked to its flagship app. Families vowed to continue advocating until meaningful changes protect other children from similar tragedies.