LOS ANGELES COUNTY, C.A. (KFGO-KVRR) – The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has filed a lawsuit against several social media platforms, claiming the companies’ products are creating a “youth mental health crisis.”
The 158-page complaint was filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles County.
The tribe is suing Meta Platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Snap, TikTok, ByteDance, Google, Alphabet and YouTube.
“Recognizing the power of engaging young users, Defendants deliberately tweaked the design and operation of their apps to exploit the psychology and neurophysiology of kids,” the complaint says.
“Defendants wrote code designed to manipulate dopamine release in children’s developing brains and, in doing so, create compulsive use of their apps.”
The Standing Rock Tribe says like many other Native American Tribes, it has reached a “breaking point” while the social media companies “profit tremendously from their wrongful conduct.”
The lawsuit says users suffer increased anxiety, depression, disordered eating, sleep deprivation, suicide, and other severe mental and physical injuries.
“Defendants’ negligence helped to and did produce, and was the proximate cause of, the injuries, harm, and losses that the Tribe and its members suffered and will continue to suffer.”
“Such injuries, harm, and losses would not have happened without Defendants’ negligence.”
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages and asks that a judge declare the platforms a public nuisance.
Messages seeking comment from the social media companies were not immediately returned.
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