Two tribal nations are accusing social media companies of contributing to the disproportionately high rates of suicide among Native American youth.
Their lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles county court names Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta Platforms; Snapchat’s Snap Inc.; TikTok parent company ByteDance; and Alphabet, which owns YouTube and Google, as defendants.
Almost all U.S. teenagers use social media, and about one in six say they use it “almost constantly,” according to the Pew Research Center.
But Native youth are especially susceptible to these companies’ addictive “profit-driven design choices,” given historic teen suicide rates and mental health issues across Indian Country, chairperson Lonna Jackson-Street of the Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota said in a press release.
“Enough is enough. Endless scrolling is rewiring our teenagers’ brains,” added Gena Kakkak, chairwoman of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. “We are demanding these social media corporations take responsibility for intentionally creating dangerous features that ramp up the compulsive use of social media by the youth on our Reservation.”
Their lawsuit describes “a sophisticated and intentional effort that has caused a continuing, substantial, and longterm burden to the Tribe and its members,” leaving scarce resources for education, cultural preservation and other social programs.
A growing number of similar lawsuits are being pursued by U.S. school districts, states, cities and other entities, claiming that TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube exploit children and adolescents with features that keep them constantly scrolling and checking their accounts.
New York City, its schools and public hospital system accuse the platforms of fuelling a childhood mental health crisis that’s disrupting learning and draining resources. School boards in Ontario, Canada, claim teachers are struggling because platforms designed for compulsive use “have rewired the way children think, behave, and learn.”
The Associated Press reached out to the companies for comment. Google said “the allegations in these complaints are simply not true.”
“Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work,” Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said in a statement. “In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls.”
Snap Inc. said it provides an alternative to a feed of online content. “We will always have more work to do, and will continue to work to make Snapchat a platform that helps close friends feel connected, happy and prepared as they face the many challenges of adolescence,” the company’s statement said.
Native Americans experience higher rates of suicide than any other racial demographic in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, jumping nearly 20% from 2015 to 2020 compared with a less-than 1% increase among the overall U.S. population.
According to advocates, mental health care is hard to get in remote areas because of colonization and social stigma, especially when the care doesn't fit the culture.
The 2020 U.S. Census found that about 87% of Native Americans don't live on reservations, and social media can help them connect with their traditions and other tribal communities.
Andrea Wiglesworth, who researches stress in Native populations at the University of Minnesota, said that Native people may face discrimination on social media without proper policies to manage it.
Wiglesworth mentioned that Native American identity is a mix of political and cultural experiences, which varies within Indigenous communities and adds extra stress.
She added that, from her own experience, Indigenous people have a shared responsibility for the well-being of their community, including in the digital world.
Psychologists and neuroscientists note that the impact of social media on teenagers' mental health can be both positive and negative, but a direct link between screen time and poor mental health outcomes has not been established yet.
As the adolescent brain develops, it creates more receptors for oxytocin and dopamine, leading to a need for positive feedback and concern about social punishments.
Mitch Prinstein, chief science officer at the American Psychological Association, highlighted the increased opportunity for 24/7 feedback and input from peers through social media.
Prinstein urged for new legislation to empower federal regulators to forbid exploitative business practices and make social media companies protect children's well-being on their platforms.
A bipartisan coalition of attorneys general is investigating if TikTok is harming the mental health of children and young adults, while some Republican-led states have filed their own lawsuits.
Utah accused TikTok of luring children into excessive social media use in October. Indiana's lawsuit alleging TikTok deceived users and mishandled personal information was dismissed in November. Arkansas has two pending lawsuits, against TikTok and ByteDance.
In Congress, a group of senators from different parties is backing the Kids Online Safety Act, which includes requirements for changes in platform design to prevent harm. The tech industry has opposed the bill, and the American Civil Liberties Union has expressed concerns about censorship.
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