Two tribal nations sue social media companies over Native youth suicides

  • 📰 AKNewsNow
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 72 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 32%
  • Publisher: 53%

United States News News

United States United States Latest News,United States United States Headlines

Two tribal nations are accusing social media companies of contributing to the disproportionately high rates of suicide among Native American youth.

-

But Native youth are particularly vulnerable 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. New York City, its schools and public hospital system accuse the platforms of fueling 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.”

Mental health care is already difficult to access from remote locations, and generations of colonization and social stigma create more barriers, particularly when the care isn’t culturally appropriate, advocates say. Native American identity is a complex mix of political and cultural experiences that varies from tribe to tribe and within Indigenous communities, adding a unique layer of stress onto other social pressures, Wiglesworth said.

“In the 1980s that meant that we were suddenly talking about who’s in which clique and who sits at which lunch table and are you wearing the right clothes to get positive feedback when you go to school. In 2024, we’re now making it possible to kind of feed that with 24/7, 365 button-pressing for feedback and input from peers,” he said.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 460. in US

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Tribal Nations Accuse Social Media Companies of Contributing to High Suicide Rates Among Native American YouthTwo tribal nations have filed a lawsuit against social media companies, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and Google, alleging that their addictive design choices contribute to the disproportionately high rates of suicide among Native American youth.
Source: KPIXtv - 🏆 443. / 53 Read more »