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PHILADELPHIA - Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan announced a major expansion of the county’s federal lawsuit against social media companies, adding X Corp. (formerly Twitter), Roblox, Discord, and a Meta subsidiary as new defendants in a case alleging these platforms fuel a youth mental health and child safety crisis.
What we know:
The amended lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s Oakland Division, makes Bucks County the first District Attorney’s Office in the country to sue X Corp., according to the announcement. The suit also now targets Roblox Corporation, Discord Inc., and Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC.
The county alleges these companies use defective reporting systems, weak parental controls, and manipulative algorithms that expose children to trauma, grooming, and exploitation.
"Parents rightfully expect someone to stop these companies from endangering their kids, and we won’t be intimidated by billionaires and corporations who think that the law doesn’t apply to them," said Khan.
The expanded complaint includes local criminal cases, including the recent sentencing of Alec Magill, 32, of Upper Southampton Township. Investigators say Magill used Roblox to pose as a teenager and solicit explicit photos from minors, relying on the platform’s lax safeguards to avoid detection.
The lawsuit claims Discord’s design lets strangers message minors by default, and that its "Safe Direct Messaging" filters give a false sense of security while child sexual abuse material remains widespread on its servers.
The suit also alleges X Corp.’s AI chatbot, Grok, generated sexual images of children, with one estimate showing a rate of one image per minute over a 24-hour period in late 2025. In Bucks County, one person has been charged with using Grok to create AI-generated child sex abuse material, with more cases under investigation.
The county’s legal team says the platforms’ use of advanced AI and machine learning maximizes screen time and compulsive use, exposing youth to dangerous content.
Dig deeper:
Bucks County’s original lawsuit, filed in March 2023, was the first by a county government and District Attorney’s Office against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube. That complaint accused the companies of using addictive features like infinite scrolling and push notifications to drive problematic use among adolescents.
In Bucks County, school screenings during the 2021-2022 academic year found 34 percent of youth at risk for moderate-to-severe depression, 40 percent at risk for significant anxiety, and more than a quarter with a history of suicide ideation, according to the lawsuit.
The county wants to stop these practices and recover public resources spent on mental health and child safety crises.
What we don't know:
The press release does not detail the timeline for the lawsuit’s next steps or when a court decision might be expected. It also does not specify what specific remedies or policy changes the county is seeking beyond stopping alleged deceptive practices and recovering costs.