Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel faces backlash on Twitter after his 'India is too poor' remark

A few days after the news broke out regarding Snapchat's CEO Evan Spiegel's disinterest in expanding the business to "poor countries" like India, the rating of the popular app dropped to a "single star" from an apparent "five star" on the App Store.

Most of India pretty much knows this app by now and even those who haven't used it are going to app stores to give it a thumbs down vote after Variety magazine quoted a former employee claiming that Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel had said in a meeting in September 2015 that this app isn't meant for poor countries like India and Spain.

On Sunday, Snapchat responded to the claim. The Hindustan Times quoted the company as saying, "This is ridiculous. Obviously Snapchat is for everyone! It's available worldwide to download for free."  

Anthony Pompliano, the former Snapchat employee, claims in his lawsuit that Spiegal once said, "This app is only for rich people...I don't want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain."  The Indian users took to Twitter to express their dissent over the comment.

After the reports of Spiegel's alleged claims surfaced, Snapchat faced heavy backlash from users and #UninstalSnapchat and #BoycottSnapchat started trending on Twitter on Saturday. Users initially slammed and trolled Spiegal for his alleged comments.

I felt this tide of fury at the Snapchat CEO but then it was gone in ten seconds.

- Rohan (@mojorojo) April 15, 2017

Baby @evanspiegel you see poor indian#SnapChat pic.twitter.com/wDLuJNbEYd

- Jogan (@Isoumyas) April 15, 2017

Kbye. U were anyway taking too much space in my very cheap 64gb iPhone! #snapchat pic.twitter.com/hUd2BMNxnt

- Amrita Ganguly (@GangulyAmrita) April 15, 2017

Snapchat CEO's net worth is USD 4 Billion and Mukesh ambani's USD 30 Billion. He can purchase #snapchat 7 times lol.bas itne hi poor hai

- akhilkoul143 (@akhilkoul143) April 15, 2017

I guess #Snapchat is too poor for India.#boycottsnapchat pic.twitter.com/Qwya5zdNTo

- Aman (@TheAlteria) April 15, 2017

#Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel Calls India poor Now if u r indian.
1. Uninstall snapchat
2. Rate it 1 star on play store
3. RT#boycottsnapchat

- Viner Aniket (@viner_aniket) April 15, 2017

I assure you Mr. CEO, that 4.0 wont last for a long time. . #Snapchat #UnInstallSnapchat pic.twitter.com/WvSiz0Aaxs

- (@Devanparab) April 15, 2017

More than 65% Americans can't afford a college degree in US but Indian's can.
So who's poor? @evanspiegel #Snapchat #boycottsnapchat
pic.twitter.com/7X6zIJ2spV

- Troll Master (@imTrollmaster) April 15, 2017

Due to the alleged comment made by Spiegel, the Snapchat rating on the Google Play Store has also taken a hit and other such platforms also witnessed a sharp decline, a 4.4 to a 3.6 rating. Furthermore, the number of one-star rating by the users shot up from 39,102 to 192,906 in just 24 hours, with many users criticising the CEO for his comments.

 

The former employee Anthony Pompliano, 26, has filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc. in LA district court on Monday for allegedly using inaccurate means to calculate metrics like daily active users (DAU) and user retention. In his lawsuit, Pompliano claims to have uncovered evidence that the tools used by Snapchat were leading to the company claiming higher-than-actual numbers for metrics such as daily active users, month-over-month user growth and user retention.

Snap had filed a counter complaint and described the employee as "disgruntled", only to later drop the complaint.

Earlier established as a platform for teens for merely sharing pictures and videos, this app has come a long way since its inception six years ago.