Snap slides after backlash to 'Jewtropolis' vandalism on NYC maps
Snap fell as much as 2.6 percent, extending a three-day losing streak that has the shares trading at their lowest levels since May. The company told The New York Times that the third-party data it uses for its map tools had been "subject to vandalism."
As Mihir Zaveri of the Times reports:
Users of a variety of popular apps and services, including Snapchat, awoke Thursday morning to find that New York City had been relabeled "Jewtropolis" on maps displayed in the apps. People on Twitter quickly posted screen shots of the maps, calling them racist and anti-Semitic. Maps on Snapchat, Citi Bike, StreetEasy and even The New York Times all appeared to be affected. All of those affected use embeddable maps from a third-party company called Mapbox. The company said in a statement that its New York City map had been "vandalized."
Mapbox issued a statement saying it has a "zero-tolerance policy against hate speech and any malicious edits to our maps" and noted that the "Jewtropolis" map label was deleted within an hour.
Snap also issued a statement: "This defacement is deeply offensive and entirely contrary to our values, and we want to apologize to any members of our community who saw it."
—Bloomberg News with Ad Age staff
