CEO of social media photo app Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, is under fire for allegedly claiming that his app was not meant for ‘poor countries like India and Spain’.
According to a lawsuit made public recently, Spiegel told a former employee – Anthony Pompliano that he wasn’t interested in “poor countries” reports Variety. Spiegel made the comments after he was questioned Snapchat’s inability to do well in the Indian market.
His comments have triggered a backlash in India. Social media users made #BoycottSnapchat trend on social media and down voted Snapchat on App Store.
As a result, the ‘Customer Ratings’ of the current version of the app was “single star” (based on 6,099 ratings) and all versions’ rating was “one and half star” (based on 9,527 ratings) as on Sunday morning, reports IANS.
Indian celebrities such as Raftaar, Bipasha Basu, and Anupam Kher condemned the CEO’s remark and have vowed to uninstall it.
Snapchat DELETED.
Kabhi aao Delhi ke Golf Links. Tumhe hamari gareebi dikhate hain.
Racist piece of shit.@Snapchat pic.twitter.com/ntQV7uiZJp
— RaftaaR (@raftaarmusic) April 16, 2017
Dear @evanspiegel
India is so rich that PM Narendra Modi had to implement demonetization to find out who is actually poor!#Snapchat pic.twitter.com/ve9AFs2Saq— URVASHI RAUTELA (@URautelaForever) April 16, 2017
Was never a big #Snapchat fan anyway? https://t.co/JVK6erhN0W
— Sophie Choudry (@Sophie_Choudry) April 16, 2017
In the middle of all this raging online, many users ended up down-rating and uninstalling Snapdeal, an Indian online shopping forum. CEO and co-founder Kunal Bahl was forced to take to social media to clarify the same.
Meanwhile, Snapchat has issued a statement through which they dismissed Pompliano’s allegations.
“This is ridiculous. Obviously Snapchat is for everyone! It’s available worldwide to download for free.”