x
Breaking News
More () »

VERIFY: Is Snapchat shutting down?

Teens and Snapchatters of all ages were spooked Monday when a viral article spread reporting the popular app would disappear from their devices and app stores by Nov. 14 due to copyright issues.

Teens and Snapchatters of all ages were spooked Monday when a viral article spread reporting the popular app would disappear from their devices and app stores by Nov. 14 due to copyright issues.

11Alive's VERIFY team set out to find out whether there was any truth to that claim.

QUESTION

Is Snapchat shutting down for good on Nov. 14?

ANSWER

False -- Snapchat is not shutting down.

EXPLANATION

The original story is believed to have been put out there by Channel 45 News. But, after doing some digging, we discovered that the site is a prank website where people can create their own headlines to trick their online followers.

Here's the description that appeared in the prank post:

The CEO Evan Spiegel of the very popular app Snapchat has released that Snapchat will be removed from all app stores by November 14,2017. According to Fox News Media Evan has decided to make this decision due to copyright and legal issues with Facebook, Instagram, and Musical.ly. By the date November 14,2017 all Snapchat apps with be removed from all devices and all app stores. DISCLAIMER all data and media associated with the app will also be deleted within the app.

While the post looked legit, had readers read beyond the headline and clicked on the link, it would have taken them to the host site where they would have seen "You got pranked" at the top of the page.

Despite that, the rumor spread like wildfire online and it forced Snapchat's CEO Evan Spiegel to break his two-year Twitter silence to debunk it.

"Fake news" he replied on Monday in response to a Tweet he was tagged in.

The social networking app's customer support handle also definitely stated, "We're not shutting down."

So 11Alive News can verify, this report is false and Snapchatters can breathe a sigh of relief.

SOURCES

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel

Before You Leave, Check This Out