BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan is setting his office’s civil enforcement sites on several tech giants, saying the companies continue to fail to protect children from online predators.
Khan said his office is adding Roblox, Meta, Discord, and X to an existing lawsuit filed by Bucks County three years ago when Khan was county solicitor.
Khan said the amended complaint was filed on Friday, the same day 32-year-old Alec McGill was sentenced to 1 to 2 years in county prison for posing as a teen on the popular online gaming platform Roblox to connect with other teenagers, then convincing them to send him nude photos.
“Roblox gave McGill the tools to hide in plain sight, and then target and exploit children from behind his phone and computer screen here in Bucks County,” Khan said.
Kahn said despite Bucks County’s suit, social media and online companies have slashed or even abandoned efforts to protect children from online predators, with the new suit claiming those companies have defective reporting systems, inadequate parental controls, and algorithms that expose children to “severe trauma, grooming, and exploitation.”
The initial suit targeted Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, accusing the tech giants of fueling a youth mental health crisis.
Khan said the DA’s office is joining the county in seeking action against the companies under Pennsylvania consumer protection laws. Bucks County is the first DA’s Office in the United States to sue X Corp.
