Snapchat denies CEO's dismissal of 'poor' India

Snap Inc has responded to a social media backlash in India after its CEO Evan Spiegel was alleged to have written off expansion into the area due to it being a “poor” country.

The trendy photo messaging app, which debuted on Wall Street in March, has faced a PR storm after the claims from former employee Anthony Pompliano emerged last week. Pompliano is taking Snap to court after he was sacked just three weeks after he started working for the company in 2015.

According to the lawsuit brought by Pompliano, Spiegel said the app was "only for rich people" and added that he didn’t want to "expand into poor countries like India and Spain."

The company said in a statement on Sunday the claims made by its former employee were “ridiculous”.

"Snapchat is for everyone! It’s available worldwide to download for free. Those were the words of a disgruntled former employee. We are grateful for our Snapchat community in India and around the world," Snap said.

The Twitter hashtag #BoycottSnapchat was trending on the social media site during the weekend, with several users calling on Indians to delete the app in response to the allegations. Snapchat has round four million users in the country.