'Boycott Snapchat' protest rages on social media over CEO Evan Spiegel's alleged 'poor India' comments

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel is in hot water, not just due to a lawsuit against him, which you can see below, but also due to the allegations made in the lawsuit, especially related to India.

Snapchat unredacted lawsuit by gmaddaus on Scribd

A lawsuit by a Snapchat ex-employee Anthony Pompliano alleges that Spiegel had some insulting things to say about India when he addressed that the app was not taking off overseas. Pompliano claims that Spiegel said that, “This app is only for rich people,” adding that, “I don’t want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain.”

This obviously did not sit well with the Indian audience. They decided to show their indignation by not just giving Spiegel a piece of their mind on Twitter through the hashtag #BoycottSnapchat, but by also uninstalling the app and leaving a one-star rating on the app before doing the same. Considering how India is the top country to download apps from Google Play Store and has significant clout on the Apple store market too, Snapchat has some serious damage control to undertake. In fact, the app is already has a 1-star rating on the Apple Store !

From outrage to some classic internet jokes, here are some tweets that emerged from the Boycott Snapchat protest.

Kids Uses Snapchat.
Men's Are Uninstalling Snapchat.
Legends Never Installed Snapchat 😂😂😂😂#Snapchat #boycottsnapchat

— Ajeet Singh Raizada (@RaizadaAjeet) April 15, 2017

I don't use Twitter very often but today i'l.Your vision is Poor Mr CEO @evanspiegel and your mentality is poor #Snapchat #boycottsnapchat

— Aniruddha Kalbande (@Aniruddhakal) April 15, 2017

Snapchat CEO called India a poor country.

Now a Indian should work hard, become rich, buy Snapchat, and marry his daughter Bollywood style

— Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) April 15, 2017

Now poor country will show the power of uninstall button. Be more with your real friends rather than reel friends. #boycottsnapchat

— Paras Sapra (@parassapra4) April 16, 2017

Poor Snapchat. #iOS users hv shown @evanspiegel his place. Its time for #Android users #boycottsnapchat #uninstallsnapchat #Snapchat #India pic.twitter.com/8ID6NuzaeB

— Raj (@dabbangism) April 16, 2017

This might be an era of snaps/clicks/pics but words still have the power to change the tide. Use dem wisely. @Snap#boycottsnapchat

— Monic Bhanushali (@monicbhanushali) April 16, 2017

Evan Spiegel is the CEO of Snaपछात ....!#boycottsnapchat

— Khushamtweet! (@XitijNanavaty) April 16, 2017

INDIA IS NOT POOR BUT YOUR MINDSET IS @Snapchat #snapchat #boycottsnapchat

— पाटील बुवा (@Patilbuvaa) April 16, 2017

Kids Uses Snapchat.
Men's Are Uninstalling Snapchat.
Legends Never Installed Snapchat 😂😂😂😂#Snapchat #boycottsnapchat

— Ajeet Singh Raizada (@RaizadaAjeet) April 15, 2017

So CEO @evanspiegel thinks India is too poor. I'm pretty sure it's gonna be an Indian buying off your company. Real soon. #boycottSnapchat

— Pradyut (@pradzzy) April 15, 2017

@Snapchat How can you insult India? 😢 #boycottsnapchat pic.twitter.com/7OjX2sAaL3

— Rizwan (@BinaryGru) April 16, 2017

Some other disturbing aspects of the lawsuit include that Snap Inc was exaggerating its user data and that Spiegel and co had also badmouthed him to prospective employers, making it tough for him to find work. What makes it worse is now that Pompliano has found work with Facebook, he was also asked for a Facebook org chart, which is a clear violation of his confidentiality agreement with Facebook. Variety reported the response that the Snap Inc attorneys released . They said that, “The simple fact is that he knows exactly nothing about Snap’s current metrics,” adding that, “He and his lawyers are — not to put too fine a point on matters — just making things up.” They also reported that Snap described Pompliano as a “disgruntled employee fired for poor performance.” We went to the Snapchat app on the Google Play store to see whether the negative reviews and installations were actually pouring in. We found out that there were, in fact, a barrage of negative 1-star ratings from India.  

  If you are waiting with bated breath for Spiegel to give an explanation on Twitter, don’t. As the 26-year-old billionaire hasn’t shared a single tweet yet . Share your opinion about Boycott Snapchat on the Twitter poll below:

Have you uninstalled the #Snapchat app in support of #BoycottSnapchat? Tweet your opinions about Evan Spiegel's comments about #India.

— Firstpost (@firstpost) April 16, 2017