Snapchat is scrambling to control the damage caused by CEO Evan Spiegel’s unverified comments in which he allegedly said the social networking app “is for rich people” and that he didn’t want to expand to “poor countries like India”.
The remarks were allegedly made by Spiegel in a 2015 meeting, according to a complaint made by former Snap Inc. employee Anthony Pompliano. The company recently released the contents of that complaint in a public filing.
Pomliano is currently suing the company in a California court for trying to “destroy his career and reputation” after being fired from Snap.
Spiegel's remarks caused an uproar in India as users started uninstalling the Snapchat app. Hashtags such as #BoycottSnap and #UninstallSnapchat were trending on Twitter.
Many users gave it one star on the Apple App store accompanied by negative reviews.
But in a case of mistaken identity, many people downgraded and uninstalled the mobile application of e-commerce platform Snapdeal instead of Snapchat to mark their protest. And the confusion resulted in hilarious reactions on Twitter.
Snapchat, which has about 4 million users in India, has called the allegations “ridiculous”. “Obviously Snapchat is for everyone. It’s available worldwide to download for free,” a company spokesperson said on Monday.
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