MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. – Montgomery County has filed a lawsuit against several major social media companies, including Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, and Google, aiming to reduce the negative impact of social media on children’s mental health and well-being, the county says.<\/p>\n
The county\u2019s 148 public school districts participated in the 2025 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS), uncovering data on the link between social media and mental health concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree or more hours of social media usage approximately doubles the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms among youth,\u201d the survey said.<\/p>\n
According to 2022 population estimates from the U.S. Census, approximately 181,583 minors live in Montgomery County. Recent data shows the county is the largest jurisdiction in Pennsylvania pursuing litigation against social media companies, a news release said.<\/p>\n
“Parents send their children to school and out into the world hoping they will learn, grow, and thrive,” said Jamila H. Winder, Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.<\/p>\n
“Too many young people are struggling with anxiety, depression, self-harm, and other serious mental health challenges. We believe social media companies must be held accountable for the role their products play in harming young people,\u201d Winder added.<\/p>\n
The county says the lawsuit is part of a broader partnership between the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and the District Attorney’s Office to proactively identify, investigate, and pursue cases against companies whose actions harm consumers or create illegal costs for taxpayers.<\/p>\n
“Montgomery County residents deserve a government willing to fight for them,” said Neil Makhija, Montgomery County Commissioner.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than one-third of teenagers nationwide say they are on their phones constantly, and this kind of social media usage can double rates of anxiety and depression. When companies profit from products that contribute to a growing youth mental health crisis, we have a responsibility to act. That\u2019s why the County and District Attorney’s Office are working together to protect our residents from harmful products and predatory business practices,\u201d Makhija shared.<\/p>\n
This litigation is part of a broader effort to support young people\u2019s mental health, the county says.<\/p>\n
The county shared that during the 2025-2026 school year, County-supported programs provided 233 student screenings, facilitated 620 support groups, and offered suicide prevention education for nearly 1,500 students.<\/p>\n
Montgomery County has also expanded the Handle With Care program, a trauma-informed partnership between law enforcement and schools that helps ensure students impacted by traumatic incidents receive appropriate support when they return to school, to five participating school districts, a news release says.<\/p>\n
Later this year, Montgomery County says it plans to open a first-of-its-kind Emergency Behavioral Health Crisis Center, a 24\/7 walk-in facility for residents experiencing mental health or substance use crises.<\/p>\n
“Mental health is something that touches every family, every school, and every community,” said Thomas DiBello, Montgomery County Commissioner.<\/p>\n
“That’s why Montgomery County has worked to expand access to services, support young people, and strengthen our behavioral health system. We’re committed to making sure residents know help is available and that they don’t have to face these challenges alone,\u201d DiBello says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. – Montgomery County has filed a lawsuit against several major social media companies, including Meta,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":996269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[36],"tags":[1736,15869,6017,210,379,517,9631,399186,39618,5518,67,132,68,52493],"class_list":["post-996268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-anxiety","tag-behavioral-health","tag-depression","tag-health","tag-lawsuit","tag-mental-health","tag-montgomery-county","tag-school-programs","tag-social-media-companies","tag-suicide-prevention","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-youth-mental-health"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117083285107969268","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=996268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/996269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=996268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=996268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=996268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}