Bucks County Files Suit Against Social Media Giants

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Bucks County Commissioners and the Bucks County District Attorney's Office announced today a joint lawsuit against several leading social media companies seeking to hold the corporations accountable for the harm their platforms have inflicted on the mental health of children here and across the nation

Filed Tuesday in federal court in California, the civil suit alleges that the firms running TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat, with platforms designed to encourage youth addiction, are fueling a mental health crisis among young people.

"This is a fight we're taking to the doorsteps of these companies in Silicon Valley," said county solicitor Joe Khan, noting that this is the first time a county government has filed a suit of this nature against social media conglomerates in a multi-district litigation.

"What this lawsuit addresses is a mental health crisis that is severely impacting children everywhere," said Khan. "And like parents everywhere, I have been wondering what are my elected officials are going to do about it. I could not be more impressed to be standing with elected officials who in a bipartisan and committed way have stood up to put a stop to the egregious conduct described in this 110 page complaint.

"What this lawsuit asserts are harms suffered by children and specifically the damages that have been suffered by the county," said Khan. "This lawsuit is going to hold these companies accountable for the harm that they made and for their role in fueling this mental health crisis."

The suit also says the social media companies “can and should take measures to stem the tide of the mental health crisis afflicting America’s social media-addicted youth.”

"We want our damages - our reimbursements. And we want them to knock it off," said Khan.

"For too long these companies have exploited developing minds without consequences, exchanging our children's mental well being for billions of dollars in ad revenue," said Commissioner Chair Bob Harvie. "The negative effects these platforms have are real, they are serious, they are quantifiable and they cannot be allowed to continue."

The complaint alleges that using mechanics akin to gambling, the platforms manipulate users with "Intermittent Variable Rewards" (IVRs) that deliver addicting shots of dopamine as users browse continuous, algorithmic, personalized streams of content and advertisements. The suit also alleges that platforms make frequent design tweaks aimed at maximizing screen time and promoting excessive, problematic levels of use.

"What the lawsuit alleges is that the algorithms that these companies have been using are not accidentally getting kids addicted, they are purposely getting kids addicted to use the product and and they are doing that in very insidious ways," said Khan.

Teenagers are especially vulnerable to these tactics, the suit says, as social media's "social rewards" feel even more satisfying to the development adolescent brain. And with more than 90 percent of children 13 to 17 reporting they use social media, the demographic is a central part of the companies' business model.

"When used for good, social media can be an incredible tool for learning, sharing and communicating," said District Attorney Matthew Weintraub. "Unfortunately, these companies have chosen to pursue childhood addiction as a business model, and to treat the attention of the young people as a commodity to be traded."

Weintraub said the lawsuit is being filed in accordance with the Pennsylvania's Consumer Protection law, which gives DA's the right to sue to try and recoup damages that have been caused by defendants who are engaged in unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts and practices.

"In this instance the deception is pretty clear," he said. "They say their apps and their web usage is not addictive and not harmful to our youth. That clearly is not the case. They have spoken positively in the public domain about the positive affects of their platforms even though we know and we see every day that is not the case.

"The reason that I'm joining in this lawsuit with fellow members of county government is to put them on notice that we will protect kids in our county and we will make them pay for the damage that they have done," said Weintraub. "And hopefully we can rehabilitate some of that damage by striking at the wrong these defendants have perpetuated on our kids."

Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia added that "TikTok" was one of her "guilty pleasures and we all know, if you go on it it's hard to stop. And when you stop, you keep getting pulled back. I'm 62 and I keep getting pulled back. So we can only imagine what that feels like for our children."

According to the lawsuit, 51 percent of girls said in 2021 that they experienced "persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness," up from 36 percent in 2011. The feelings increased among boys from 21 to 29 percent during the same period.

In Bucks County, screenings conducted during the 2021-22 school year found 34 percent of school-aged youth were at risk for moderate-to-severe depression and 40 percent were at risk for significant anxiety. More than a quarter of school-aged youth had a history of suicide ideation.

While the county funds, offers and supports numerous mental health services for children, teens and families, the systems in place are struggling to keep pace with growing levels of despair among young people, officials said.

Simultaneously, the county has seen an uptick in behavioral issues related to social media resulting in commitments of law enforcement resources. In one instance, in 2022, a teen boy was arrested for threatening on Snapchat to "shoot up" a high school. In others, children participating in TikTok "challenges" have caused panics, injured people and damaged property.

"There's an old saying that we will be judged with how we take care of our old people and our young people," said Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo. "That's why we're here today because we're concerned about our young people. I can't wait until we get to discovery when we dip into the emails of the people who work for these companies and we find out what they knew.

"Not harmful and not addictive. Where have we heard that before?" he continued. "We heard it from these drug companies for many, many years as they pushed these drugs on society. I think at the end of the day we're going to find out these social media platforms knew exactly what they were doing. They were preying on young people. We'd like to put an end to it," he said. "We're going to hold them accountable."

The county and the DA are represented in the litigation by Robbins Gellar Rudman & David, a plaintiff's law firm with offices in California and Pennsylvania. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California's Oakland Division, where the law firm has brought similar actions.