If you’re a person living in 2017 and active on social media, you may have heard there’s something going on between Snapchat and Indians
Kya kar dia Snapchat ne India ke saath?
— Punjabi Potato (@oojjaw) April 16, 2017
Indians have been going postal over the app since yesterday
https://twitter.com/ameberwal/status/853619836135649280
And there’s a very solid reason why
Snapchat is getting a shit done of flack from India because back in 2015, the CEO of Snapchat had some not-so-nice things to say about countries like India (and Pakistan, I assume, if he even considers it at all).
“This app is only for rich people. I don’t want to expand to poor countries like India and Spain.”
Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snap Inc. and the co-founder of the app very clearly showed his inclination (or rather, lack of it) toward the developing world, during a meeting. This was revealed by ex-employee Anthony Pompliano who has filed a lawsuit against the company.
Ever since those remarks by Mr. Spiegel have gone public he’s been at the receiving end of a lot of criticism, and understandably, Indians are majorly offended.
They have been voicing their opinion by reviewing the app on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play store and giving it one star reviews. According to some reports, the rating of Snapchat on App Store went from five stars to one star, within 24 hours.
There has been a campaign to uninstall Snapchat from phones, by Indians
With #UninstallSnapchat and #boycottsnapchat being top trends in India, consumers are voicing their opinions against the remarks of the company’s CEO
#BoycottSnapchat if u love & respect ur country more than sharing snaps or making dog and deer faces.#UninstallSnapchat pic.twitter.com/afcOVOBY77
— Deepa Nagaonkar (@nagaonkardeepa) April 16, 2017
#Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel Calls India Poor. Teach Him A Lesson:
1.Uninstall
2.Rate It 1 Star On Google Play.
3.RT & Spread#BoycottSnapchat— Kiran Pensalwar (@kiranpenslwar) April 16, 2017
#boycottsnapchat
CEO Snapchat: India is a poor country
Indian slaps and says : saale hum log James bond se gutka bikwaate hai… ??— Vishesh Shetty (@speedyvishu) April 16, 2017
Dear CEO(snapchat), evanspiegel
keep yur #Snapchat in yur pocket
we don't need that SHIT in #india#boycottsnapchat— Urvashi Uniyal (@UrvashiUniyal) April 16, 2017
Seeing their rating take a nosedive the company reacted, denying that the statement was ever made the CEO
Various reports claim that the company has denied that remarks against countries like India and Spain were ever made by Evan Spiegel.
“The simple fact is that he (Mr. Pompliano) knows nothing about Snap’s current metric,” the company’s attorneys reacted, according to Variety, that first published the report regarding Mr. Pompliano’s lawsuit against Snap Inc.
But Indians are having none of it
It's enough now!!
We are not that poor @evanspiegel #boycottsnapchat
Use this as your twitter profile pic ??? pic.twitter.com/vFrTj2eLqn— Delhite (@CEOdelhi) April 16, 2017
Whether there will be an official apology from Evan Spiegel or if this is actually another one of a series of misfortunes for Snapchat, only time shall tell.
Cover image via: businessinsider.com