What to know about Bucks County's lawsuit against TikTok, Facebook, other social media
Bucks County and the District Attorney's Office have jointly filed a lawsuit against a number of major social media companies, alleging their platforms have inflicted harm on the mental health of the county's youth.
In announcing the suit Wednesday, county officials said social media platforms TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Snapchat are encouraging "youth addiction," and fueling a mental-health crisis.
Bucks County wants TikTok, Facebook, others to address mental health
Those five companies are named in the suit, which seeks financial compensation for efforts the Bucks County Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Programs have made to help children reportedly affected by the social media applications.
"What the lawsuit addresses is a mental health crisis that is severely impacting children everywhere, particularly in Bucks County," Bucks County Solicitor Joe Khan said.
He said Bucks County is the first local government to join in the multi-district lawsuit, which was filed in California.
The suit alleges the platforms flood teens and children with as much divisive and harmful content as possible and get them addicted for the sake of profit.
"This is having deep and dangerous ramifications on our youth, our communities, and our schools that simply cannot be ignored," the suit reads in part. It alleges the social media platforms make frequent design tweaks aimed at maximizing screen time and promoting problematic levels of use.
Khan said a number of county mental health services were provided to children affected by social media. Those services were paid for by county taxpayers, and the suit asks for compensation for that.
County officials have not said how much they're seeking.
The suit states Bucks County has had to hire additional mental health professionals who focus on youth mental health, including 80 school-based mental health workers since 2021.
How are Bucks kids impacted by social media?
District Attorney Matt Weintraub said there's a "line out the door," for mental health services for young people. Some have suicidal thoughts, anxiety or depression.
"This phenomenon, I think corresponds with the advent and promulgation of social media that has targeted our youth," he said.
Under the consumer protection law, district attorneys in Pennsylvania have the right to sue to recoup some of the damages caused by companies, Weintraub explained.
The companies use mechanics similar to gambling by manipulating users with "intermittent variable rewards," that deliver addicting shots of dopamine while they search continuous, algorithmic, personalized content and advertisements, according to the county.
The lawsuit alleges teens are especially vulnerable to social media's "social rewards," as they feel more satisfying to the adolescent brain.
The lawsuit cites three incidents in Bucks County caused by teens using social media. Those included a teen threatening to "shoot up" a Central Bucks School, two teens shooting beads into a Warrington movie theater, and two Bucks County-area school districts reporting vandalism in their bathrooms.
In addition to seeking financial compensation, Khan said the suit demands the companies stop the practices they allege are causing the issues.
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How have the companies responded?
Representatives from TikTok and Snapchat responded saying they could not comment on ongoing litigation.
However, a Snapchat spokesperson provided the following statement:
"Nothing is more important to us than the wellbeing of our community. At Snapchat, we curate content from known creators and publishers and use human moderation to review user generated content before it can reach a large audience, which greatly reduces the spread and discovery of harmful content. We also work closely with leading mental health organizations to provide in-app tools for Snapchatters and resources to help support both themselves and their friends. We are constantly evaluating how we continue to make our platform safer, including through new education, features and protections."
A TikTok spokesperson said the company prioritizes safety and well-being of teens by age restricting features, having screen time limits, parental controls and access to support resources directly in the application.
Meta, which owns both Facebook and Instagram, provided the following statement from Antigone Davis, Global Head of Safety for Meta:
“We want teens to be safe online. We’ve developed more than 30 tools to support teens and families, including supervision tools that let parents limit the amount of time their teens spend on Instagram, and age verification technology that helps teens have age-appropriate experiences. We automatically set teens’ accounts to private when they join Instagram, and we send notifications encouraging them to take regular breaks. We don’t allow content that promotes suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, and of the content we remove or take action on, we identify over 99% of it before it’s reported to us. We’ll continue to work closely with experts, policymakers and parents on these important issues.”
Google, which owns YouTube, said:
“We have invested heavily in creating safe experiences for children across our platforms and have introduced strong protections and dedicated features to prioritize their well being. For example, through Family Link, we provide parents with the ability to set reminders, limit screen time and block specific types of content on supervised devices.”
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County sues Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube
