KESHENA, Wis. (AP) — Two tribal nations are accusing social media companies of contributing to high rates of suicides that disproportionately affect Native American youth.
Their lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles county court names the companies responsible for Instagram, Snap, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Google. The Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota and the Menominee Indian Tribe in Northeast Wisconsin say addictive features are pushing more Native youths to kill themselves.
Virtually all U.S. teenagers use social media, and research shows roughly one in six say they’re almost constantly on YouTube and TikTok. Tribal leaders say Native youths are particularly vulnerable due to the complexities of Indigenous identity in the U.S.