WASHINGTON — QUESTION:
Did Snapchat block Snapchatters on Swann Street, NW during the protest in Washington, D.C.?
ANSWER:
No.
SOURCE:
PROCESS:
The Verify team is here to get you the truth about things you spot online and have questions about.
And there's been no shortage of misinformation circulating about recent protests.
Here's the back story: Following the fourth day of demonstrations in D.C. on Monday, June 1st, residents around 15th and Swann Streets let dozens of protesters into their home the night of June 1 as police closed in on them to make arrests after curfew.
WUSA9's Ariane Datil spoke with one man named "Meka" via phone who said that he was among roughly 40 protesters inside a home that could not move back into the streets due to those arrests.
RELATED: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Birds-eye view of Swann St. incident shows DC Police using urban warfare tactics
He said protesters were spread through the three floors of the home. The people in the home kept them safe there until the curfew ended at 6 a.m. Tuesday.
On that Tuesday, June 2, a user on Twitter posted, "Swann St is COMPLETELY blocked out on Snapchat."
So, we're Verifying, did SnapChat block users on Swann Street?
To get the answer, we went straight to Snap Inc.
A spokespersons says, "We have not blocked Snapchatters from viewing the Snap Map.”
The company says, “If the heat map overlay on your Snap Map has difficulty loading, this is unlikely to impact your ability to view Snaps."
Snap added, “In most cases the issue can be resolved by closing/reopening the Snapchat app.”
And Snapchatters can report any issues directly via Snap Map by clicking on “Report a Map Issue’
The Verify team also checked twitter to see if there were any other reports of Snap Maps not working in DC during those protests.
Our researchers didn’t find any other instances.
So we can Verify, FALSE, Snap did not block users on Swann Street, NW during the protest.
