A Snapchat filter that tells users how fast they were driving when taking a video has been removed from the app.
A representative from Snap, Inc., told National Public Radio this week that the speed filter: “is barely used by Snapchatters . . . And in light of that, we are removing it altogether.”
However, many believe there are more sinister underlying reasons for the filter being deleted.
There have been multiple lawsuits against the app surrounding their speed filter, which launched in 2013, due to several speeding incidents.
In 2015 collision resulting in permanent brain damage, the death of three young women in a Philadelphia car accident, and a crash in 2017, which resulted in the deaths of three men who clocked a speed of 123 miles per hour.
eliminating the snapchat speed filter is discrimination against me personally (who liked to use it on trains)
— the amtrak respecter (@epistemicdoubt) June 18, 2021
In response to these incidents, Snapchat made several changes to the filter over the years. It moved the speed feature from a “filter” to a “sticker” in Snapchat, making it less noticeable to viewers.
It also added a “Don’t Snap and drive” warning that would appear every time someone used the feature.
They also capped the maximum speed limit, which a video can be posted using the filter at 35 mph.
However, despite ht obviously problematic nature of the filter, it was never removed completely until now.
Recently, A federal appeals court in May ruled that the family of the young men who died in the 2017 crash mentioned above should be able to sue Snapchat for being negligence in creating a feature that could cause foreseeable harm.
This week, Snapchat appealed for the case to be dismissed, arguing that the speed filter did not cause the accident.
Regardless, the company most likely finally realised that the feature had done more harm than good, and it will eventually be deleted from all devices in the coming weeks.
Snapchat removing its speed filter is for the best, but I did have fun using it when I was on a plane pic.twitter.com/xqY3O456qH
— ᒎᗴᑎ🦋 (@jenlovescats) June 18, 2021
