Snap has denied a claim its CEO Evan Spiegel said Snapchat was "only for rich people" and that he did not "want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain".
"This is ridiculous. Obviously Snapchat is for everyone," a spokesperson for Snap said. "It's available worldwide to download for free."
The alleged comments came to light last week when the company released a court complaint from former employee Anthony Pompliano.
Pompliano, who worked at Snap (then Snapchat) in 2015 for three weeks, alleges Spiegel made the comments in a meeting to discuss the company's international expansion plans, according to Variety.
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"Those words were written by a disgruntled former employee," said Snap.
Since the revelation of the alleged comments, Snap has plunged to a rating approval of one star on the Apple App Store and drawn negative feedback.
"Racism and Vanity", "You deserve one star racist" and "Racism at its Best", read the titles of some of the many one-star reviews on the store site.
"1.2 billion people with third country to have the most billionaires in the world how dare u call my country poor," said a reviewer.
The incident has drawn a predictably strong response on social media, tagged with #boycottsnapchat.
"We are grateful for our Snapchat community in India and around the world," Snap said.
I was addicted to @Snapchat but I love my country more than this app. Let's see how you earn without Indians. @evanspiegel #boycottsnapchat
— Shreya Tewari (@SarcasticSheeya) April 16, 2017
CEO of snapchat block snapchat in India bcoz india is a poor state 😀😂😂 pic.twitter.com/5IuxZHRUfk
— #HBD_UmAir 19april🍰 (@Umairr_Official) April 16, 2017